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VARIOUS SUBJECTS, 

INTENDED TO HAVE BEEN DELIVERED 
IN 

ftO WHICH ARE ADDED, 
SOME OTHERS, SELECTED FROM THE SAME AUTHOR, 



By JOSEPKf PRIESTLEY, l. l. d. f. r. s. 



IM 18G7" i 

$ort&umfcetfattti : 



PRINTED BY JOHN BINNS, 
1805! 



ON 



THE DUTY 
Of 

MUTUAL EXHORTATION. 



Exhort one another daily while it is called to day, 
lest any of you be hardened by the deceitfidness 
nf sin, Heb. III. 13. 

This advice of the author of this epistle is not 
less seasonable at the present day than when it was 
given. It is even more deserving of attention now 
than it was then. At that time the christian church 
was in a state of persecution At least the open 
profession of Christianity was attended with more 
danger than it is at present. It was not then patro- 
nized by the great, the learned, or the fashionable ; 
but was a sect every where spoken against, and the 
teachers of it were generally considered as men who 
turned the world upside down, the enemies of peace, 
and the authors of innovation and revolution. 

A. Such 



2 OX THE DUTY OF 

Such, indeed, will ever be the character of refor- 
mers. It was so in every period of the reformation 
from popery. In this light were Wickliffe, Huss, 
Luther, Calvin, and Socinus considered in their 
day ; and such is the light in which every person 
who in the present times, having by any means ac 
quired more lieht than others, is desirous of com- 
mumcating it, and to improve upon any establish- 
ed system, must expect to stand. The bulk of 
mankind wish to be at their ease, and not to have 
their opinions, any more than their property, or 
their government, disturbed. Being satisfied with 
their present situation, they naturally dislike any 
change, lest it should be for the worse. The situation 
of a reformer must, therefore, require great fortL 
Cude, the courage of the lion, as well as the wisdom 
of the serpent, and the innocence of the dove. 

These virtues are equally necessary in our 
times, as far as they bear the same character ; but 
they are only peculiarly requisite for reformers, and 
their immediate followers. With respect to Chris- 
tianity in general, the profession of it is not, at least 
in this country, at all disreputable. On the con- 
trary, it is rather disreputable not to be a christi- 
an; and I rejoice that it is so, and that infidelity 

has 



MUTUAL EXHORTATION 3 

has not made so much progress as to make it other- 
wise. And I am willing to think that the seasona- 
ble and temperate answers which several learned 
christians have given to the numerous writings of 
ignorant and petulant unbelievers, have been a 
check, at least with ail sober minded and thinking 
men, to the late alarming increase of infidelity 

But because the profession of Christianity is net 
disreputable, is the genuine spirit of it more readi- 
ly imbibed, and the practice of its precepts more ea- 
sy ? By no means. There is another enemy to 
eontend with, far more to be dreaded than open vio- 
lence, against which it behoves us to be upon our 
guard, if we wish to have any thing more of Christi- 
anity than the name, which alone will avail us no- 
thing ; and from the insidious and unsuspected 
attacks of this enemy, we have no means of escap- 
ing, as we might have from those of an open perse- 
cution. 

This enemy is the world in which we live, and 
the intercourse we must have with it. For now, 
as much as. ever, to be tire friend of what may pro- 
perly be called the world, is to be the enemy of God. 
Love not tiie world says the apostle John, nor the 
things that 4 ■ ffi theroorld. If any man love the 
A 2, world 9 



4 



ON THE DUTY OF 



world, the love of the father is not in him. For att 
that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of 
the eye, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but 
is of the world. And the world passes away, and 
the lust thereof; but he that doth the will of God 
abidethfor ever. 

In order to feel, and consequently to act, as be- 
comes a christian, and this in an uniform and steady 
manner, the principles of Christianity must be at- 
tended to, and never lost sight of. In time of per- 
secution the distinction between christians and 
other persons who are not christians is constantly 
kept up . For then the mere profession of Christia- 
nity makes men liable to suffering, and often to 
death ; and when men are in danger of suffering 
for any thing, as well as when they have the hope of 
gaining by anything, they will give the closest at- 
tention to it Their hopes or their fears cannot fail 
to keep their attention sufficiently awake. 

When a man is willing to give up his property, 
and even his life, for the sake of any thing, he must 
set a high value upon it He will, cherish the 
thought of it, as what is dearer to him than any 
thing else. In such times, therefore, no man 
would for a moment forget that he was a christian. 

The 



MtJ.TtfAL EX'HORT ACTION. .5 



The precepts and maxims of Christianity: would be 
familiar to his mind, and have the greatest weight 
"with him. 

But this is not the casein such times as these in 
which we live. There is very little in a man's out- 
ward circumstances depending on his being a chris- 
tian or no christian. The behaviour of other per- 
sons toward him has no relation to that distincti- 
on; so that he has nothing either to hope or to fear 
from the consideration of it, there being nothing 
that necessarily forces, or that veiy loudly calls for, 
his attention to it. All the attention that, in these 
circumstances, he does give to it must be wholly 
voluntary, the spontaneous effort of his own mind r 
If his mind be much occupied by other things, he 
will necessarily relax in that attention, and if he in- 
tirely drop his attention to the principles of Christi- 
anity ; if all his thoughts, and ail his actions, be 
directed to other objects, such as engage the atten- 
tion and the pursuit of mere men of the worlds there 
will be no real difference between him and mere 
men of the world. Pleasure, ambition, or gain, 
will be equally their principal objects, those for the 
sake of which they would sacrifice every thing 
else. 

A3. Chris- 



6 ON THE DUTY OF 

Christianity does not operate as a charm. The 
use of it does not resemble that of a badge, or a 
certificate, to entitle a man to any privilege. It is 
of no use but so far as it enters into the sentiments, 
contributes to form the habits, and direct the con- 
duct, of men ; and to do this, it must really occupy 
the mind, and engage its closest attention ; so that 
the maxims of it may instantly occur the moment 
that they are called for ; and therefore in whatever 
it be that the true christian and the mere man of the 
world really differ, the difference could not fail to 
appear. If there was any gratification or pursuit, 
that did not suit the christian character, though 
others might indulge in it without scruple, and 
despise all who did not ; the true christian would 
be unmoved by such examples, or such ridicule. 
His habitual fear of God, and his respect for the 
commands of Christ, will at all times render him 
superior to any such influence. Whatever his 
christian principles called him to do, or to suffer, he 
would be at all times ready to obey the call. 

For any principles to have their practical influ- 
ence, they must at least be familiar to the mind, 
and this they cannot be unless they be voluntarily 
cherished there, and be dwelt upon with pleasure, 

when 



11VTVAL EXHORTATION. 7 

when other objects do not necessarily obtrude them- 
selves. Consider, then, how many objects are per- 
petually occupying the minds of men in the present 
state of things in the christian world, and how forci- 
ble their hold is upon them, and consequently how 
difficult it must be to prevent their all prevailing- in- 
fluence, to the exclusion of that of Christianity. 

I. The age in which we live, more than any 
that have preceded it, may be said to be the age of 
trade and commerce. Great wealth is chiefly lo he 
acquired by this means. It i^, at least, the most 
expeditious way of acquiring a fortune, with any 
regard to the principles of honour, and honesty* 
But to succeed to any great extent in mercantile 
business of any kind, especially now that such 
numbers of active and sensible men are engaged in 
the same, a man must give almost his whole atten- 
tion to it, so that there will be little room for any 
thing else to occupy his mind. If he do not literal- 
ly, in the language of scripture, rise up early, and 
sit up late, it will occupy his thoughts when his 
head is upon his pillow. His anxiety will often 
keep him awake. Even at that season of rest he 
will be considering whether it will be prudent to 
make this or that purchase, whether this or that 

A 4. man 



8 



ON THE DUTY OF 



man. may he safely trusted, whether there will not 
be too much hazard in this or that undertaking, and 
a thousand things of this nature. 

If such a person's business allow him any lei- 
sure, he is fatigued, and wants amusement, and 
cannot bear any thing that makes him serious. He 
therefore, engages in parties of pleasure, and vari- 
ous entertainments, that even more than business 
exclude all thoughts of religion. And in this course 
of alternate business and mere amusement or feast- 
ing, do many men of business proceed day after 
day, and year after year, till Christianity is as foreign 
to their thoughts as if they had been heathens. 

If the man of business have any turn for reading, 
and that not for mere amusement, it is history, or 
politics, something relating to the topics of the day, 
but not the Bible that he reads. To this, if he 
have not read it at school, many a man of business 
is an utter stranger ; and though in this book God 
himself speaks to men, concerning their most im- 
portant interests, their duties here, and their expec^ 
tations hereafter, they will not listen even to their 
maker. On Sundays, which the laws of most chris- 
tian countries prevent men from giving to business, 
many never go to any place of christian worship ; 

but 



MUTUAL EXHORTATION. P 

but to relieve themselves from the fatigues of the 
week, make that their day of regular excursion, in 
company with persons of similar occupations ; and 
their conversation, if not irreligious and profane, is 
at least on topics altogether foreign to religion. 

II. The business of agriculture is much less 
unfavourable to religion and devotion. It does not 
occupy the mind in the same degree ; and it is at- 
tended with much less anxiety. Nay the principal 
causes of anxiety to the cultivator of the ground, 
viz. the uncertainty of the seasons, and the weather; 
rather lead the thoughts to God, the author of na- 
ture, and of all its laws ; from which he ex- 
pects every thing that is favourable to his employ- 
ment ; and he passes his time in the constant view 
of the works of God ; so that they must in some 
measure engage his attention. And if he attend 
at all to the objects with which he is continually sur- 
rounded, they must excite his admiration and de- 
votion. This at least, is their natural tendency ; 
though even here other objects, and other views, 
foreign to his proper employment, may interfere ; 
so that, in the language of scripture, seeing he shall 
not see, and hearing lie shall not understand; and 
giving more attention to gain than to his employ- 
ment in any other view, even the farmer may be as 
A 5 destitute 



10 



ON TIIF DUTY OT 



destitute of religion as the tradesman ; and great 
numbers, no doubt, are so. This however is by 
no means owing to their employment, but to other 
influences, which affect all men alike, without dis- 
tinction of classes or ranks. This employment I 
therefore consider, as of all others, the most favoura- 
ble to the temper and spirit of Christianity. 

III. In this advanced state of the world , and of 
society, the profession of law and medicine require 
more study and time than formerly. Laws are 
necessarily multiplied, and cases more compli- 
cated. The study of medicine requires more 
knowledge of various branches of science, as natu- 
ral philosophy, chemistry, and botany, besides a 
knowledge of the learned languages, and other ar- 
ticles with which no physician of eminence can be 
unacquainted. Whether it be owing to these cir- 
cumstances, or to any other, it is remarked in 
England, and I believe in Europe in general, that 
but few either of lawyers or physicians are men of 
religion, tho' some few are eminently so. Physi- 
cians have an obvious excuse for not regularly at- 
tending places of public worship ; and if men can 
spend the Sundays without any exercise of religi- 
on, the whole week will generally pass without 
any, and the subject itself will find little place in 
their thoughts. IV The 



MUTUAL EXHORTATION. 



11 



IV. The times in which we live may, in a 
very remarkable degree, be said to be the age of 
Politics ; and from the very extraordinary state of 
the world it is in some degree necessarily so. 
Greater events are now depending than any that 
the history of any former age can shew ; and the 
theory and practice of the internal government of 
countries, the circumstances that tend to make go- 
vernments stable, and the people prosperous and 
happy, concerning which there is endless room for 
difference of opinion, occupy the thoughts of all 
men who are capable of any reflection. No person 
can even read the common newspapers, or see any 
mixed company, without entering into them. He 
will, of course, form his own opinion of public 
men and public measures ; and if they be differ- 
ent from those of his neighbours, the subjects will 
be discussed, and sometimes without that temper 
which the discussion of all subjects of importance 
requires. Consequently,' the subject of Politics, in 
the present state of things, is with many as much 
an enemy to religion, as trade and commerce, or 
any other pursuit by which men gain a livelihood. 
Many persons who read find nothing that interests 
them but what relates to the events of the time, 
or the politics of the day. 

This 



12 



ON THE CUT Y OF 



This; state of tKings might lead men to look td 
the hand of God, and a particular Providence, 
which is evidently bringing about a state of tilings 
far exceeding in magnitude and importance, any 
thing that the present or any former generation of 
men has seen. And a person of an habitually pi- 
bus disposition, who regards the hand of God in 
every thing, will not take up a newspaper without 
reflecting that he is going to see what God has 
wrought ; and considering what it is that he is ap- 
parently about to work. To him whatever wishes 
he may, from his imperfect view of things, in- 
dulge himself in (which however will always be 
with moderation and submission) all news is good 
news. Every event that has actually taken place, 
as it could not have been without the permission 
( which is in fact the appointment) of God, he is 
persuaded is that which was most fit and proper 
for the circumstances, and will lead to the best 
end ; and that tho' for the present it may be cala- 
mitous, the final issue, he cannot doubt, will be 
happy. 

But mere men of the world look no farther than 
to men, tho \ they are no more than instruments 
in the hand of God ; and consequently, as the e- 
vents are pleasing or displeasing to them, promis- 
ing 



MUTUAL EXHORTATION. 13 

ing or unpromising, their hopes and fears, their 
affections or dislikes, are excited to the greatest de- 
gree; so as often to banish all tranquillity of 
mind, and cool reflection. And certainly, a mind 
•in this state is not the proper seat of religion and 
devotion. All the thoughts of such persons are 
engaged, and their whole minds are occupied by 
objects, which not only exclude Christianity, but 
such as inspire a temper the very reverse of that of 
a christian, which is peculiar!}- meek, benevolent, 
even to enemies, and heavenly minded, a dispo- 
sition of mind which we should in vain look for in 
the eager politician of these times. 

As to those who are concerned in conducting 
the business of politics, those in whose hands God 
has more immediately placed the fate of nations, it 
is not to be expected (though there are noble ex- 
ceptions) that they will be eminent for piety 
and religion, or have any other objects than those of 
ambition, and, often that of avarice. Their eager- 
ness to get into power, their jealousy of all their 
opponents who wish to support them at home, 
and their negotiations with foreign powers, which 
must be intricate, must often keep their minds up- 
on the rack, to the exclusion of every sentiment, 
not only of religion, but even of common justice 

and 



14 



Otf TKE DUtY 0? 



and humanity* For such all history shews to have 
been the character of the generality of statesmen 
and warriors* in all ages, and all nations. They 
have Iceptthe world in the same state of ferment and 
disorder with their own minds. The consolation 
of a christian, in this state of things, is that the 
great Being, whose providence statesmen seldom 
respect, does, tho' with a hand unseen, direct all the 
aSairs of men. He ruleih in the kingdoms of men, 
andghjetk them to whomsoever he pleases ; and even 
the Pharaohs, and Nebuchadnezzars, are as use- 
ful instruments in his hands as the Davids, and 
the Solomons. 

V. It might be thought that philosophers, per- 
sons daily conversant in the study of nature, must 
be devout ; And the poet Young says an undevout 
astronomer is mad; Yet we see in fact that men 
may be so busy all their lives in the investigation of 
second causes, as ihtirely to overlook the great first 
cause of all, and even to deny that any such Being 
exists. Or seeing no change in the course of nature 
at present, or in any late period, they hastily con- 
clude that ail things have ever been as they now 
are from the beginning ; so that if the race of men. 
had a maker, he has ceased to give any attention 
to them, or their conduct ; and consequently that 

they 



MUTUAL EXHORTATION. IS 

they are at full liberty to consult their own interest, 
and live as they please, without any regard to him. 
Also philosophers, having all the passions of other 
men, the same love of pleasure, the same ardour of 
ambition, and the same attachment to gain, that ac- 
tuate other men, they have in these respects been, 
in the usual course of their lives, governed by passi- 
on more than reason, and have lived as much wkht 
out God in the world, as thoughtless of his being, 
perfections, and providence, as other men. 

VI. Even ministers of the christian religion, 
though necessarily employed in the public cfhces 
of it, and in teaching the principles of it to ether:, 
are not necessarily influenced by them themselves ; 
though the character they sustain in society obliges 
them to greater external decency of conduct ; so as 
to lay them under some considerable restraint; at 
least will respect to a love of pleasure, and a taste 
for amusement. But if the profession was not the 
real object of their choice, from a sense of its supe- 
rior excellence, even this duty may be discharged 
as any other task, as any other means of subsist- 
ence, or on account of some other advar.tr ges to be 
derived from it. In some cases, in which religion 
is supported by the state, and ample emoluments 
are within the reach of churchmen, the christian mi- 
nistry 

4 



16 



ON THE DUTY OF 



nistry (if in such a. case it can be so called) may be 
chosen as the means of gratifying men's ambition 
or aval ice. 

In this state of things can we -wonder at the pro- 
gress of infidelity ? Those who are entire strangers 
to it see that it has little influence on the hearts and 
lives of those with whom they converse, so that 
whether it be true or false, they think it to be of 
little consequence, and not worth the trouble of a 
serious investigation. And many persons Who had 
nominally christian parents, giving no more seri- 
ous attention to Christianity than they see their pa- 
rents and others give to it, observing none of its 
exercises, or only in the most superficial manner, 
seldom attending public worship, never reading 
the scriptures, or any book relating to religion, 
either explaining its evidences, or enforcing its 
duties, which they find to interfere with their in- 
clinations, get a dislike to the subject; and in 
this state of mind a mere cavil, or a jest, such as 
are to be found in the writings of Voltaire, and 
Other modern unbelievers, has the force of argu- 
ment. With many persons too in the upper ranks 
of life, Christianity being the belief of the common 
people, on whom they look down with contempt, 
has more weight in their rejection of it than they 

will 



MUTUAL EXHORTATION. 



17 



will acknowledge, or than they may even be aware 
of themselves. 

Now, as I observed before, Christianity, tho 5 
not absolutely and expressly rejected, is of no use 
unless it influence the temper of our minds, and 
our conduct in life ; if it lays rio restraint on the 
love of pleasure, the love of gain, or the pursuits 
of ambition, but leaves men as worldly minded in 
all respects as those who never heard of it ; as much 
as if they had never heard of that future state 
which is brought to light by it, and which in the 
gospel is held up as a constant and most interest- 
ing object of attention and contemplation to all 
christians. We should aever forget that religion* 
is only a means to a certain end; and if we do not 
make this use of it, it would have been better for 
us never to have had it, or to have known it ; since 
then we should have had one talent less than we 
now have to be accountable for. And if it be true 
that God has revealed his will to men, and sent 
messenger after messenger to promote the virtue 
and happiness of his rational offspring, he knew that 
such an extraordinary dispensation was necessary 
for us, and we cannot be innocent if we neglect to 
attend to it, and to make the proper use of it ; un- 

B. less 



18 ON THB DUTY OF , 

less we be so situated, as never to have heard of It. 

Such are the general causes of the prevailing in- 
attention to the subject of religion,, and which ex- 
tinguishes in so great a degree the genuine spirit of 
Christianity, These, therefoi e, in proportion to the 
value we set upon our religion, and in proportion 
to the concern we have for our own improvement 
and that of others, we must endeavour, by every 
means in our power, to counteract, exhorting one 
another daily while it is called to day> lest we be car- 
ried away by the baneful torrent, which we see to 
be in danger of deluging,, as we may say, a great 
part of the nominally christian world. 

The means by which this may be done are suffi- 
ciently obvious, it is the application of diem only 
that, in such an age as this, has any real difficulty 
in it. And certainly it requires no small degree of 
fortitude and resolution to appear so singular.- as a 
sincere and zealous christian must some times do 
among persons of a different character. He must 
be content to be thought righteous oyer much r to be 
considered as a man of a weak mind, and devoid of 
spirit, and of those qualities which recommend men 
to the admiration of the world. For tho' virtue, as 
it is commonly understood, has the sanction of ge- 
neral 



MUTUAL EXHORTATION. 



19 



neral estimation, and persons accounted vicious are 
universally censured; the virtues that are most ad- 
mired are not always christian virtues, . and give 
more indulgence to the passions, as to those of re- 
venge, and a love of what is called pleasure, of vari- 
ou s kinds, than Christianity allows. And there is not 
perhaps any vice besides that of a mean selfishness, 
that is equally condemned by Christianity and the 
voice of the world. We see that even murder, in 
the form of a duel, passes without any censure at 
all. Nay, the spirit with which men fight duels is ap- 
plauded ; while that meekneess, though it be real 
magnanimity, showing a due command of temper, 
which overlooks insults, and preserves a kindness 
for those who offer them, is branded as meanness of 
spirit* Voluptuousness to a really criminal ex- 
cess passes with so light a censure, that when any 
person is said to be no man's enemy but his dwfy he 
is not thought at all the w T orse of on that account, 
especially as it is often accompanied with a con- 
tempt of money, and a love of society like his own. 
Profaneness is too generally considered as no vice at 
all, but only at the worst a foolish and unmeaning 
custom. 

In these circumstances, a profound reverence for 
the name and attributes of God* the great duty of 
B 2. not 



20 



ON 1 THE DUTY' 0$ 



not living to ourselves, but of the appropriation of the 
whole of a man's time, fortune, and ability of every 
kind, to the good of others, the love of God with the 
whole heart, and our neighbour as ourselves, includ- 
ing in the word neighbour every person to whom it is 
in cur power to render any service ; the obligation 
of sacrificing every thing in life, and even of life it- 
self, for the sake of conscience, in the cause of truth 
and right, with a view to a recompence not in this" 
world but another, which Christianity requires of 
lis, are things quite above the comprehension of 
mankind in general. And whatever men cannot 
attain themselves, they think to be romantic and 
absurd, a kind of quixotism in morals, and a just 
object of ridicule and contempt. 

Since , then, -what is called the world, and the 
prevailing maxims and custom of the times in 
which we live, give us no assistance, but must 
operate as an impediment in our christian course, 
we must surmount this great difficulty by our own 
voluntary exertions, taking to our aid those helps 
by which christian principles are most effectually 
impressed, and kept in view. Something of this 
kind is absolutely necessary, because no end can 
be gained without employing the proper means ; 
and if any thing that does not necessarily obtrude 

itself 



MUTUAL EXHORTATION. 21 

itself requires to be attended to, it must be purpose- 
ly brought before the mind by reflection, reading, 
or conversation; to do this most effectually, 
some time must be set apart for the purpose. Al- 
so those intervals of time which are not engaged 
by necessary business should not be wholly given 
to mere amusement (though something of this kind 
is necessary for such beings as we are) but be em, 
ployed to some serious purpose, 

David said that he meditated upon God in the 
night ivatehesy and upon his bed. In the law of God, 
he says that a good man will meditate day and night. 
And whatever it be that we really take pleasure in, 
it will naturally occur to our thoughts when they 
are not necessarily occupied by other things ; be- 
ing the most pleasing subjects of contemplation. 
The first exercise therefore that I would recom- 
mend to all christians in the frequent reading of the 
scriptures. 

Christians have far more, and more interesting, 
subjects of contemplation and meditation than Da- 
vid had. We see much farther than he could do 
into the great plan of providence, respecting the 
present and future condition of man. We are ac- 
quainted with manv more instances of his inter-. 

B 3, course 



ON THE BUT Y OF 



course with mankind, with more communication^ 
of his will ; and a far more clear and explicit ac- 
count of his designs respecting them. And what 
can be more interesting to man than his intercourse 
with his maker, the great being on whom we con- 
stantly depend, for life, breath, and all things, who 
is also our moral governor, and our final judge ? 

Since the time of David there has been a long 
succession of prophets, and especially the appear- 
ance of the greatest of all the prophets, Jesus Christ, 
who brought life and immortality to light, having 
not only given us certain information concerning a 
resurrection, and a future state, but exemplifying 
his doctrine in his own person, by actually dying 
and rising from the dead. There was also a most 
glorious display of divine interpositions in the time 
of the apostles, by which our faith in the gospel is 
abundantly confirmed, and our attention to a future 
state so much excited, that it might almost have 
been feared, that mankind would think of little 
else, and that the business of this life would have 
been too much neglected. For what is the interest 
we take in all other histories compared to our inter- 
est in this ? Other histories are no doubt, instruct « 
tive ; but the books of scripture, besides being in- 

finitely 



MUTUAL EXHORTATION. ^3 

finitely .more curious, and interesting, as the trans- 
actions of God, compared with those of men, may 
be said to be a title to an estate, to which any man 
may become an heir. In the scripture we are in- 
formed of the certainty, and the value, of this great 
inheritance, and with the terms on which we may 
secure the possession of it The books of scripture 
are also the most ancient writings in the world, 
and penned with a simplicity of which we have no 
other example so strikingly beautiful ; and they 
exhibit the manners of the primitive ages of man- 
kind ; so that there is in them every thing that can 
interest curiosity, as well as impart the most im- 
portant information. 

If, however, notwithstanding these recommenda- 
tions, the scriptures, and other works illustrative of 
their contents, have not engaged the attention, it be- 
hoves every person wl)o really wishes to imbibe the 
spirit of Christianity, to make himself well acquaint- 
ed with them, and to persist in the reading and study 
of them, till he find himself interested in their con- 
tents, and imbibe the pious and benevolent temper 
which is so conspicuous in the writers, And how 
irksome soever, through disuse, and other causes, 
the reading of the scriptures, and of other books 
which have the same tendency, may for some time 

B4. 



24 08T THE DUTY OF 

be, perseverance will overcome it ; and then, if I may 
speak from experience, no reading will be so inter- 
esting or pleasing ; and the satisfaction will increase 
with every fresh perusal. 

This circumstance enables us to account for the 
peculiar pleasure that David, and other pious Jews, 
appear to have derived from reading the scriptures. 
They had few other books ; so that if they read at 
all, they must have read them perpetually in their 
own houses, as well as have heard them constantly 
read in the synagogues, from the time that they had 
s^ch places of public worship, which they certainly 
had from the time of the Babylonish captivity. 
At this day there are so many other books to engage 
the attention, that in too many cases thej totally ex- 
clude the reading of that which is of infinitely 
more value than all the rest. 

But whatever be the leisure that any person can 
command for reading, some portion of it should by 
all means be appropriated to that kind of reading the 
object of which is to increase the knowledge which 
relates to our profession as christians. And this will 
lead to a course of reading both curious and inter- 
esting, especially such as makes us acquainted with 
tile progress of Christianity in the world. No kind 
of reading tends so much to counteract the influence 

of 



MUTUAL EXHORTATION". 



25 



of the world, and its principles, as the lives of emi- 
nent christians, and most of all the martyrs, whose 
piety, patience, and fortitude, in chearfully abandon- 
ing life, and every thing in it, for the sake of con- 
science, cannot fail to inspire something of the 
same excellent spirit ; and this once fully imbibed, 
will enable a man to behave as becomes a christian 
in every situation, of prosperity as well as of adver- 
sity, in life or in death. 

Compared to the strong feelings with which such 
works as these are read by persons who have acquir- 
ed a true relish for them, all other reading is per- 
fectly insipid , and a truly pious christian, who 
has few books besides the Bible, has little cause to 
envy the man of letters, in whose ample library th# 
bible is not to be found. What is there of pathe- 
tic address in all the writings of the admired raiti- 
ents compared to the book of Deuteronomy by 
Moses ? And what is all their poetry compared to 
the psalms of David, and some parts of Isaiah ? 
And yet such is the power of association and habit, 
that by persons of a different education, and 
turn of mind, those parts of scripture which are 
by some read with emotions of the most exalted 
and pleasurable kind, will be perused with perfect 
indifference, and even disgust : and if such persons 

B5. be 



26 ON THE DUTY OF 

he advanced in life, so that their habits are eonfirftitf 
ed, the endeavour to communicate to theni a re- 
lish for such writings will be al together in vain. 
Of such persons we may say with Bacon's brazen 
statue, Time is past. 

So strongly is my mind impressed with a sense 
of the importace of the habitual reading of the scrip- 
tures, both from considering the nature of the 
thing, and from the best attention that I have been 
able to give to particular characters and facts, that I 
do not see how those persons who neglect it, and 
who have no satisfaction in habitually meditating 
on the infinitely important subjects to which they 
relate, can be said to have any thing of Christiani- 
ty besides the name, They cannot feel the influ- 
ence of its doctrines, its precepts, or its motives, 
when they give no attention to them ; and there- 
fore the}^ cannot derive any advantage from Christi- 
anity, except such as accrues to all the nominally 
christianized part of the world, in improving the ge- 
neral character, manners, and customs of it ; but 
which, as it has not arisen from any attention that 
they have given to it, cannot entitle them to the 
character, or rewards of true christians, those who 
have lived as pilgrims and strangers here below, 

and as citizens of heaven, who, though living in 

thq 



MUTUAL EXHORTATION" 



27 



the world, have had their affections on things a- 
bove, whose treasure, the object of their chief care 
and pursuit, has been not in the things of this 
world, but in heaven. They may not be rejected 
by Christ as workers of iniquity ; but they have no 
title to the appellation dtgood and faithful servants y 
to a master whom they have never truly loved or 
respected, and hardly even thought of, and there- 
fore cannot expect to partake in the joy of their 
Lord. 

II. Besides other obvious uses of public wor- 
ship, a person who wishes to cultivate the true spi- 
rit, and acquire the proper habits of his religion, 
must not neglect it. We are social beings, and 
our joining in any scheme in which we are alike in- 
terested, is a mutual encouragement to persevere in 
it, and to pursue it with proper ardour. It likewise 
operates as a tie not lightly to desert the profession, 
and such a tie men concerned in the multifarious 
business of this life often want, 

III. Private and habitual devotion is the life 
and soul of all practical religion. No man can be 
truly religious who does not, in his daily thoughts, 
respect the presence and government of God, and 
who does net regard him as the author of all things, 

and 



28 ON THE TiVTY OF 

and the sovereign disposer of all events j so as to 
live as seeing him who is invisible ; as I have ex- 
plained pretty much at large in a printed discourse 
on this subject. 

IV. Family prayer, if not of absolute necessity, 
is of great use in all christian families. Dr. Hart- 
ley, one of the most judicious, as well of the most 
pious of men, says observation on man vol. 2. p. 
336, " I belive it may be laid down as a certain 
" fact, that no master or mistress of a family can 
" have a true concern for religion, or be a child of 
" God, who does not take care to worship God by 
" family prayer. Let the observation of the fact 
" determine." I would not chuse to express myself 
quite in this manner, since much must be allowed 
to the different circumstances of families ; but thus 
much may certainly be said with truth, that if the 
practice of family prayer, or any other mode in 
which we give evidence to the world that we are 
christians, be forbom through shame, or a compli- 
ance with the modes of the world, we have no just 
claim to the title and privilege of christians, but 
fall under the awful sentence of Christ. If any 
man be ashamed of me, and my words, in this gene- 
ration, of him will jjie sonyf man be ashamed when. 

he 



MUTUAL 1XHORTATI0N. 



29 



he comes in the glory of his father, with the holy an- 
gels, Mark 8. 38. 

Every practice by which we declare our belief of 
Christianity, stich as attending christian worship, 
receiving the Lord's supper; or performing any 
other acknowledged christian duty, tends, to 
strengthen our faith, to inspire the proper spirit of 
the profession, and secure the performance of every 
duty which it enjoins ; and therefore should by no 
means be neglected by us* 

Thus should we be urgent, even to exhort one- 
another^ and all should gladly and thankfully re- 
ceive the word of exhortation ; to be steadfast, im- 
moveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, 
knowing that our labour will not be in main in the 
Lord, 

The author of this epistle says (Ch. 10. 25.) We 
should exhort one another so much the more as we 
see the dav, meaning, no doubt, the great day or 
the second coming of Christ, approaching. If this 
motive had weight in the times of the aposdes, it 
must have more now ; since that great day, which 
will try every man's work what it is, must be near- 
er than it was then , and though this time was not 
known to our Lord himself, but only the signs of 
its approach, many intelligent christians, who are 

attentive 



Otf THE DUTY OF 



attentive to the signs of the times, are of opinion that 
it cannot now be far distant, and may be expected 
even in the present generation . Bu t since the com- 
ing is certain, though the time be uncertain, let us 
all be ready, that "when our Lord, shall return, and 
take account of his servants ,we may be found without 
spot, and not be ashamed before him at his coming. 



OH 



31 



ON rf 

FAITH and PATIENCE. 

T'fese all died in faith , not having recem+ a } v (Jsro- 
mises, but having seen them afar off ; ^re 
persuaded of the?n, and embraced then 
fessed that they %v-ere strangers and p <tti 

x the earth. Heb< A vi. 13. 

TPrlE great use of religion is to enlarge the 
minds of men ; leading them to look beyond them- 
selves, and beyond the present moment ; to take 
an interest in the concerns of others, and to look 
forward to the most distant times. By this means 
men become less selfish, and at the same time more 
intellectual ; being less governed by the impulses 
of mere sensual appetite, which is the characteristic 
of brutal nature, and also of a state of childhood. 

This habit of mind cannot be imparted by in- 
struction It must necessarily be the fruit of ex- 
perience. And since this advance in intellectual 

improve- 



32 



ON F AIT II 



ment implies the forbearance of immediate gratifi- 
cation, which is always painful, a state of suffer- 
ing is an essential ingredient in this important dis- 
cipline of the mind, and therefore ought not by 
any means to be complained of, by those who wish 
not to j^tard their progress towards perfection. 

\ytnd nc' m the affections and conduct of children 
how injurious constant indulgence is to them, 
and how necessary to their own future happiness, 
as well as to the comfort of those who are about 
them, ar" frequent checks and restraints. The 
less is the gratification of their wishes restrained, 
the more eager are their desires, and the more 
confident their expectation of any desired event ; 
and consequently the more painful is disappoint- 
ment to them. And since disappointment will ne- 
cessarily come, from the absolute impossibility of 
gratifying all their absurd "wishes, the more they 
must suffer from impatience and vexation in con- 
sequence of a want of early checks. 

It is happy for men that, in a state of infancy, 
they cannot explain their wants ; so that whatever 
they feel or wish, it has little or no connection 
with what they experience. They must necessa- 
rily be many years under the absolute government 
cf others. This lays a foundation for a habit of 

patience 



AND PATIENCE 



33 



patience and forbearance, which is of infinite value 
to them, and which must be carried much farther as 
they advance in life, if they advance in intellectual 
and moral improvement. 

We see not only in the case of indulged children, 
but in that of km<rs, and others who have rnanv 
persons intirely subservient to them, that a habit of 
indulgence makes them incapable of brooking dis- 
appointments ; so that they suffer infinitely more 
than persons who frequently meet with them, and 
who have by that means acquired a meek disposi- 
tion, and a habit of patience and forbearance. These 
persons can enjoy the pleasures of life without suf- 
fering much from the evils of it ; whereas they who 
have not been in a situation proper for acquiring 
this habit, not only suffer much from evil ; but have 
little enjoyment even of good. This being nothing 
more than they always expect, and what from fre- 
quent indulgence they receive with much indiffer- 
ence, often bordering on disgust. 

Hence it follows that, in exercising the faith and 
patience of men, God acts the part of a kind and ju - 
dicious parent, attentive to the improvement of his 
children ; not affected by their present temporary 
feelings, but consulting their happiness at a future 

C. period, 



34 



€>>T FAITH 



period, and in the whole of their existence ; this 
life> long as it may be, being only the infancy of 
man, in which are to be formed habits that are to 
qualify them for superior and more lasting enjoy- 
ment hereafter. Compared to eternity, what is 
time ? what is the longest term of human life ? If 
the whole of it should be passed in suffering, there 
is room for an abundant recompence in a future 
state. But our merciful father has given sufficient 
proof of his bene v olence in the provision that he has 
made for the enjoyment of this life, happiness great- 
ly exceeding the misery that is so much complain- 
ed of in it. From this his disposition, and his 
wish, to make his offspring happy is sufficiently 
evident ; and we have just ground to hope, and be- 
lieve, that all the sufferings of this life are in their 
nature preparatory to our happiness in another, 
provided they have their proper effect upon our 
tempers and dispositions. 

We see most of the conduct of divine providence 
in the scriptures, which are eminently calculated 
for our instruction ; and we there see that the me- 
thods of the extraordinary providence of God, in his 
intercourse with mankind, is exactly correspondent 
to the plan of his general providence. We there 

see 



AND PATIENCE. 35 

sec that from the beginning of the world he has been 
training men to virtue and happiness by a course 
of severe but salutary discipline ; some of the most 
eminent of our race, those whom we may call the 
greatest favourites of heaven, with whose history 
we are best acquainted, having been treated in 
such a manner as to exercise their patience to the 
utmost, before they were distinguished by any re- 
ward for it. As an attention to particular cases, 
such as are briefly recited in the eleventh chapter of 
the epistle to the Hebrews, will be eminently in- 
structive, I shall enlarge a little on some of them, 
noticing such circumstances in their history as ap- 
pear to be the most remarkable; 

Abraham, at the age of seventy five; was com- 
manded by God to leave his native country, on a 
promise that he would give him another which he 
would shew him, and that he would make his de- 
scendants a great nation. Accordingly, he left 
Chaldea, and went to Haran in Mesopotamia and 
the year following he proceeded to the land of Ca- 
naan, Gen. XII. 4. There God appeared to him 
the second time, telling him that that was the coun- 
try destined for him. Ten years, however, passed 
without the appearance of any issue, from which the 

promised 



36 



ON fAITH 



promised nation was to descend ; and in the mean 
time he had been obliged by a grievous famine to 
go into Egypt. 

At his return the promise of his descendants be- 
cc mmg a great nation was renewed, and again, in a 
: : juliarly solemn manner, after his rescue of Lot ; 
out haying no hope of any son by his wife Sarah, 
he was prevailed upon by her to take her maidHa- 
gar, and by her he had Ishmael, when he w as eighty- 
six years old. But this was not the son from whom 
the great nation Vv'as to descend ; and it was not till 
he had arrived at the advanced age of ninety nine 
that he was promised to have a son by Sarah, who 
was then ninety ; so that her conception was out of 
the course of nature. Notwithstanding this long 
delay, and the most unpromising appearances, his 
faith did not fail ; and on this account he was high- 
ly approved by God, Gen. XV. 6. Accordingly he 
had a son the year following, but only one ; so that, 
to all appearance, his having a numerous posterity 
was very uncertain. 

To give the greater exercise to his faith, when 
this son, so long expected, was arrived at years of 
maturity, the affectionate father received a com- 
mand from God to sacrifice him ; a command 
which he hesitated not to obey, though to appear- 
ance 



1HD PATIENCE. 37 

ance this act of obedience would put an end to all 
hrs flattering prospects. This, however, was merely 
a trial of his faith, and the order to sacrifice his son 
was countermanded. 

When Isaac was forty year old, and his father 
one hundred and forty, he was married ; but twen- 
ty years more elapsed before he had a son, so that 
Abraham was one hundred and sixty years old, and 
saw no more than two grand children, and when 
they were boys of fifteen he died. His expectation, 
therefore, of a numerous posterity could not have 
arisen from any thing that he saw, but altogether 
from his faith in the divine promise. 

After this the hopes of the family, were limited 
to Jacob one of the sons of Isaac ; and he did not 
marry till he was near fourscore years of age, and 
at his outset he appeared to have been greatly infe- 
rior to his brother. For when he returned from 
Padan Aram no mention is made but of his wives, 
his children, and his cattle, whereas his brother 
met with him with four hundred men, and made 
very light of the very valuable present that Jacob 
forced upon his acceptance. 

In the family of Jacob we see, however, at 
length, the rudiments of a clan* or nation; and 

C 3. when 



33 



ON FAITH 



when the}' went into Egypt they mustered seven- 
ty males, but their situation in servitude, to which 
they were soon reduced, was very unpromising 
with respect to any future greatness. The life of 
Jacob himself had little in it to be envied. After 
leaving his parents, where though he was the favour- 
ite of the mother, he was by no means so of the fa- 
ther, he served his uncle Laban twenty years ; and by 
his own account he underwent great hardships, and 
was grievously imposed upon. At his return he 
suffered much from the fear of his brother's resent- 
ment. The behaviour of several of his sons must 
have been a source of much affliction to him, and 
the loss of Joseph must have gone near to break his 
heart. In this state he continued fifteen years, 
when near the close of his life he was comforted by 
the recovery of his favorite son, and the settlement 
of all his family in a plentiful country. But though 
he knew, from the warning that God gave to Abra- 
ham, that his descendants would soon be reduced to 
a state of great oppression, and would continue in it 
many years, he died in the firmest faith that they 
would in future time become a great and flourish- 
ing nation ; and he distinctly foretold the fate of 
each of his sons, as the heads of great tribes, of 
which that of Judah would be the most distin- 
guished. Joseph 



AND PATIENCE. 



39 



Joseph, the most pious and virtuous of his sons, 
was exercised in the severest manner. After being 
the favourite of his father till he had attained the age 
of seventeen, he was sold for a slave ; and, in con- 
sequence of a false accusation, confined in prison 
several years. But these unfavourable circumstan- 
ces were probably those that contributed most to 
the^peculiar excellencies of his character ; disposing 
him to be humble and serious, wholly resigned to 
the will of God ; and believing that his providence 
had the disposal of every thing, he entertained no 
sentiment of revenge on account of the injuries that 
had been done to him. Looking forward to the 
future greatness of his descendants, and confiding 
in the divine promise, that the family would become 
possessed of the land of Canaan, he ordered that he 
should not be buried in Egypt, but be embalmed, 
in order to be earned to the promised land when they 
should remove thither. 

Though the descendants of Jacob multiplied 
greatly in Egypt ; yet no person, seeing the state of 
abject servitude to which they were there reduced, 
could have imagined that they were destined to 
rise superior to their proud masters, and make the 
figure they afterwards did under David and Solo- 
anon, and much less that they would become the 
C 4. most 



40 ON FAITH 

most distinguished of all nations, which if the predic- 
tions concerning them have their accomplishment, 
they are to be. The Israelites in general seem to 
have abandoned all hopes of the kind, and to have 
acquiesced, through despair, in their servile con- 
dition. 

Moses, their future deliverer, fled from the coun- 
try at the age of forty, and continued forty years 
more among the Arabs, where he married, and evi- 
dently never thought of returning to join his bre- 
thren ; when the divine Being appeared in a most 
extraordinary manner in their favour, delivering 
them as it is said, with a high hand and an out- 
stretched arm, from the power of the Egyptians, at a 
time when there were no visible means of accom- 
plishing it. 

But though the nation was in this extraordinary 
manner delivered from their state of servitude in 
Egypt, yet, wandering as they did no less than forty 
years in the wilderness, surrounded by warlike na- 
tions, they could not, except in reliance on the di- 
vine favour by which they were conducted, have 
expected to make the conquest of such a country as 
Palestine then was, fully peopled, and by nations in 
the habits of war, with all their considerable towns 

fortified 



AND PATIENCE. 



41 



fortified : Yet in this manner was the favourite nati- 
on training up for their future greatness, when, to 
an indifferent spectator, their condition would have 
appeared very uncertain and hazardous ; not likely 
to make any greater figure than one of the hordes of 
Arabs, and having nothing but the very worst and 
least cultivable part of Arabia to settle in ; every 
fertile spot in the country being already occupied. 

The people in general at this time thought so ill 
of their situation and prospects, that nothing but 
very extraordinary interpositions in their favour 
could have prevented their returning into Egypt, 
which they again and again wished to do. The 
faith, however, of the more pious among them ne- 
ver failed ; and after the expiration of the forty years 
they were put into the possession of a considerable 
tract of country on the East of the river Jordan. Bu f 
at this time not only were the descendants of Esau 
a well settled and considerable nation, but even 
those of Moab and Amnion, the two sons of Lot, 
though they were destined to bow to the superiori- 
ty of the wandering Israelites. 

After they got possession of the land of Canaan, 
in a manner as extraordinary as their emancipation 
from their bondage in Egypt, they made no consi- 
C 5. derab le 



42 



ON FAITH 



derable figure for the space of about four hundred 
years ; and during a great part of it they were in 
subjection to some or other of the neighbouring na- 
tions, in consequence of their apostac) r from their 
religion ; so that in all this time there was far from 
being any appearance of their being what they were 
in the reigns of David and Solomon ; and this state 
of prosperity did not continue quite a century. Af- 
ter this they relapsed into their former inconsidera- 
ble state, and they were finally conquered, and car- 
ried into captivity, by the kings of Assyria and Ba- 
bylon ; when to all appearance there was an end of 
the nation of the Israelites, as there was to those of the 
Moabites, Ammonites, and Philistines, which ne- 
ver rose to any degree of power or independence. 

Of all the kings of Israel, David, whose piety 
was most exemplary, though, from the strength of 
his passions, his failings were very great, was ex- 
ercised with the greatest trials, both before he was 
king and afterwards, of which many of his psalms, 
composed in a mournful strain, are a sufficient evi- 
dence. He was anointed king of Israel when he 
was very young; but though he soon distinguihed 
himself as a warrior, he was immediately exposed 
to the jealousy and persecution of Saul ; so that 

during 



AND PATIENCE*. 



43 



during the remainder of his reign he was obliged to 
take refuge in the neighbouring countries ; and af- 
ter the death of Saul he was seven years at Hebron, 
acknowledged by the tribe of Judah only. 

On the other hand, Solomon, who had, no doubt, 
every possible advantage of education, and arrived 
at the most splendid situation without any difficul- 
ty, was not only excessively luxurious, but swerv- 
ed from his duty in an article with respect to which 
his firmness might have been least of all suspected ; 
not only indulging his wives in the idolatrous wor- 
ship of the countries from which he had taken 
them, but joining them in it. 

After this seeming annihilation of the Israelites as 
a nation in the captivity by Nebuchadnezzar they 
were, according to express prophecies, restored to 
their own country, though they never rose to the 
height from which they had fallen ; and in conse- 
quence of their relapsing into vice, though not into 
idolatry, and rejecting the great prophet Jesus 
Christ, the vengeance predicted long before by Mo- 
ses came upon them to the uttermost. They were 
conquered by the Romans, and soon after intirely 
driven from their country to every part of the habi- 
table world ; and in this state they remain to this 

day 



ON FAITH 



day, but they are not destroyed. They preserve 
their peculiar customs, and never lose sight of their 
relation to their great ancestors, or the promises of 
God to them, that they are to be once more, and fi- 
nally, settled in their own country, and to be the 
most respectable of all nations. Though they are 
treated with the greatest contempt by all other peo- 
ple, they are justly proud of their descent, and of 
their peculiar relation to God. Whatever be the 
vices with which they are chargeable, they are not 
deficient with respect to faith. Their most neces- 
sary virtue is fully exercised, and improved, by the 
severe discipline to which they have been subjected. 

This is the more remarkable, as none of all their 
calculations, or conjectures, concerning the time of 
their deliverance and exaltation have been verified ; 
so that they now desist from forming any opinion 
on the subject, but wait with patience for the ac- 
complishment of the promises, notwithstanding the 
most discouraging aspect of things, and in perfect 
uncertainty will respect to the time. 

The Messiah, who was first promised to them 
with any distinctness in the time of Isaiah, they 
fully expected, from their interpretation of the pro- 
phecies of Daniel, about the commencement of the 
christian sera, when they became subject to the 

Romans ; 



AND PATIENCE. 



45 



Romans; a situation which they brooked very ill. 
Jesus was the predicted Messiah, but his first com- 
ing was not to be that glorious one with which they 
fondly flattered themselves. And with respect to 
his second coming christians themselves have their 
faith as much exercised as is that of the Jews. It was 
by many fully expected soon after the age of the 
apostles. After this disappointment, they fixed up- 
on later dates ; but, like the Jews, we have flattered 
and deceived ourselves again and again. Our kith, 
however, does not fail, especially as our Saviour 
has apprized us that the time of his second coming 
was not known even to himself, but to the father on- 
ly ; and that when it will come it v/ill be as unex- 
pected as that of a thief in the night. 

If the faith of the founders of the Jewish nation, 
and that of the nation itself, has been so much exer- 
cised, that of Jesus Christ and his followers has 
been no less so. Christ himself was made perfect 
through suffering, Heb. II. 10. his followers cannot 
reasonably expect to be trained to virtue and hap- 
piness in any other way. He was despised and re- 
jected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with 
grief During the whole course of his benevolent 
ministry, in which he continually went about doing 
good j he met with more opposition from the envy 

and 



46 



ON FAITH 



and malice of his powerful enemies, than if he had been 
the pest of society. Though he gave the rulers of 
his nation no cause of offence besides that of reprov- 
ing them for their vices, they never ceased to perse- 
cute him till they had put him to a painful and ig- 
nominious death ; and he faithfully apprized all his 
disciples, that if they would follow him, they must 
take up their cross to do it; and that they would be 
hated of all men for his name^s sake, but that they 
ought to rejoice in being so distinguished ; since in 
consequence of being persecuted for righteousness 
sake, great would be their reward in heaven. If 
they suffered, with him, they would, as the apostle 
says, reign with him, and be glorified together. 

The apostles, and the primitive christians in ge- 
neral, found this to be a faithful and true warning. 
In following the steps of their master they were per- 
secuted as he had been ; and christians received no 
countenance from the powers of the world for the 
space of three hundred years. And after this the 
professors of a purer Christianity (for it was never 
more than a corrupt species of it that was patroniz- 
ed by princes and states) continued to be exposed 
to cruel persecution in various forms. Indeed they 
suffered much more from nominal christian powers- 

than 



AND PATIENCE, 47 

than they had ever done from the heathen ones. It 
has, therefore, been true in all times, that through 
Viuch tribulation men have entered into the kingdom 
of God; and consequently whenever the world 
smiles upon us, there is just ground for suspicion 
that all is not right with us. 

Looking through the history of Christianity from 
the beginning, we shall find that the most distin- 
guished characters, those we look up to with the 
greatest reverence, as patterns of piety, benevo- 
lence, and constancy, have been those who have suf- 
fered the most. This was eminently the case of 
the apostles in general, and especially of Paul, the 
most active of all the propagators of Christianity. 
For ardour of mind, and indefatigable exertion in 
the cause of truth and virtue, he stands unequalled 
in christian history. But what did he not suffer af- 
ter he embraced Christianity, from the malice of the 
Jews, and false brethren among christians. 

Speaking of some who undervalued him in the 
church of Corinth, he gives the following brief enu- 
meration of his labours and sufferings, Cor. XI. 23. 
Are they ministers of Christ, I sbeak as a fool, lam 
more. In labours more abundant, in stripes above 
measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths often. 
Of the Jews fine times received I forty stripes save 

sue. 



43 



ON FAITH 



one. Thrice was I beaten with rods. Once was 1^ 
stoned. Thrice I suffered shipwreck. And this 
was written before the shipwreck of which a parti- 
cular account is given in his history. A night and 
a day I have been in the deep. In journeyings of- 
ten ^ in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils 
by my own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in pe- 
rils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in 
the sea, In fastings often, in cold and nakedness, be- 
sides those things that are without, that which com- 
ethupon me daily, the care of all the churches. Who 
is weak, and I am not iveak ? Who is offended, and 
I burn not? If I must needs glory, I will glory in 
the things that concern my infirmities. After this he 
was imprisoned two years in Judea, conveyed to 
Rome as a prisoner, and suffered shipwreck at Meli- 
ta. He was two years more a prisoner in Rome, 
though not in strait confinement ; and though he 
was at that time acquitted, he afterwards suffered 
martyrdom. 

In the same epistle, however, in which he gives 
this account of his sufferings, he say 2 Cor. VII. 4. 
/ am exceedingly pyful in all our tribulation ; and 
he frequently exhorts the christians to whom he 
writes to rejoice in the Lord always. Rom. XII. 12. 
rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation. When he 

was 



AND PATIENCE. 49 

was preaching to some of the churches in Asia Mi- 
nor, (Acts XIV. .22.) exhorting the disciples to 
continue in the faith, he reminds them that through 
much tribulation they must enter into the kingdom of 
God. 

With what true heroism and satisfaction does he 
reflect upon his labours and sufferings, in the epistles 
which he wrote from Rome, towards the close of 
his life, and when he was in expectation of a vio- 
lent death. In these circumstances he thus writes 
to Timothy. 2 Tim. IV. S. JVatch thou in aU 
things. Endure affliction. Do the work of an E- 
vdngelisL Make full proof of thy ministry. For I 
am now ready to be offered, and the time of my depar- 
ture is at hand. I have fought the good fight ', I 
have finished my course, I have kept thefaith . Hence- 
forth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, 
which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me 
at that day ; and not to me only, but to all them that 
love his appearing. 

Can any thing now be wanting to reconcile us to 
any hardships to which we can ever be exposed, ei- 
ther in the ordinary course of pfovidence, or in the 
cause of truth and a good conscience ? What is all 
that we can suffer, in these times of rest from opea 
persecution, compared to that to which either the 

D. antient 



50 



ON FAITH 



ancient martyrs in the time of heathens, cr those in 
the time of popery, were continually exposed. How 
many thousands of them suffered death in every 
frightful form, besides being the objects of ridicule 
and insult, as if instead of being the benefactors of 
mankind, they had been the greatest pests of socie- 
ty; a treatment which to many persons is more 
painful than death itself, and very often would be 
intolerable, w r ere it not that the attachment of friends 
is a balance to the contempt of enemies. 

It is true, however, that something of this kind of 
persecution still remains to those whoreson. 1 tely bear 
their testimonv, at the same time infavour of christi- 
anicy, and against the manifold corruptions of it 
with nominal christians, eyen those who call them- 
selves reformed. In this case we cannpt expect to 
escape the ridicule of the philosophical part of the 
world on tine one hand, and the hatred of bigots oh 
the other. In some situations it requires no small 
degree of fortitude to bear this with a temper be- 
coming christians, pitying the ignorance and preju- 
dices of men," without bearing them any ill will; and 
taking every method of removing their ignorance 
and prejudices, in a manner the least offensive to 
them ; always joining the wisdom of the serpent, 
to the innocence of the dove ; the seriousness of 

the 



AND PATIENCE 51 

the christian, with the ease and cheerfulness of the 
benevolent man ; free from that offensive austerity 
which gives many persons an aversion to religion, 
as if it was an enemy to human happiness, and the 
parent of gloom and melancholy. 

Let us more particularly apply this doctrine to 
the great object of christian hope, the second com- 
ing of Christ with power and great glc:-/, to raise 
the dead and to judge the world, when he will ren- 
der to every man according to his works. We are 
apprized by the apostle Peter, (2 Peter III. 3.) 
that in the last days, there will be scoffers, as we 
now find, who will say Where is the promise of his 
coming ? For, since the fathers fell asleep, all things 
continue as they were from the beg'mning of the crea- 
tion. But, as he observes, one day is with the 
Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as 
me day, that he is not slack concerning his promise, 
and that day will come though as a thief in the 
night. 

Let us then be ever looking for, as we are hasting 
-unto, the coming of this great day of God; and 'be 
diligent, that we may be found of him without spot 
and blameless. That greatest of all events is npt the 
less certain for being delayed beyond our expectati- 
D 2i * - on. 



ON tAITH 



on. The Israelites, no doubt, expected to enter 
the promised land immediately alter their leaving 
Egypt • but though they passed forty years in the 
wilderness, they nevertheless were put in the full 
possession of it when that time of their probation 
was expired; so that we read, Josh. XXI. 43. The 
Lord gave unto Israel all the land zvhich he swore 
to give unt? their fathers. There failed not one of 
the good things which the Lord had "spoken to the 
house of Israel: all came to pass. In like manner, 
no doubt, we shall all have occasion to say the same 
in due time, when our eyes, and every eye, shall 
see Christ coming in the clouds of heaven, be the 
distance of that time from the present ever so great* 
Let us, therefore, live as if it was near at hand. 
With this prospect before us, what manner of per- 
sons, as the apostle Peter says, ought we to be in all 
holy conversation and godliness. 

But, as individuals, we have no occasion to enter 
into any speculations about the time of this greatest 
of all events, in which We are so much interested. 
To each of us it must be very near. For since we 
have no perception of time during a profound sleep, 
we shall have none while we are in the grave. The 
sleep of Adam will appear to him to have been as 
short as that of those who shall die the day before 

the 



AND PATIENCE. 53 

the second coming of Christ. In both cases, alike, 
it will be as a moment ; so that our resurrection 
will seem immediately to succeed the closing of 
our eyes on this world. What a sublime and in- 
teresting consideration is this. For what is qur life y 
but, as the apostle says, like a vapour, which ap- 
pears for a little tune and then vanishes away ; and 
immediately after this the great scene opens upon 
us. May we ajl be so prepared for it, that when 
our Lord shall return, and take account of his ser- 
vants, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed 
befor* him at his coming* 



ON 



54 



ON 

THE CHANGE WHICH TOOK ft ACE IK THE: 
CHARACTER OF THE APOSTLES AF- 
TER THE RESURRECTION OF 

JESUS CHRIST. 

[PART L] 



And %vhen they saw the boldness of Peter and John, 
and perceived that they were unlearned and igno^ 
rani men, they marvelled, and they took knowledge 
of them that they had been with Jesus. 

Acts IV, iL 

There is nothing in all history, and certainly 
nothing within the compass of our own observa- 
tion and experience, that shows so great a change 
in the views and characters of men, as we find to 
have taken place in the- apostles after the resurrecti- 
on and ascension of Jesus, or rather after the de- 
scent of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. 
Tftey appear to have always been honest, virtuous, 
and pious men ; but having imbibed the prejudices 
of iheir nation, they expected a temporal prince in 
their Messiah ; and supposing their master to be 

that 



ON THE CHANGE, 



that Messiah, and being in favour with him, they, 
with the ambition that seems to be natural to all 
men, hoped to be advanced to the first places 
in his kingdom, and, seemingly, without consider- 
ing whether they were qualified to fill them or not. 

With these views, and no higher, they attached 
themselves to Jesus, after being convinced by his 
miracles that he was a true prophet ; and conceive 
ed the idea, though without its having been suggest- 
ed by himself, that he was the Messiah they were 
looking for. They had frequent disputes among 
themselves on this subject ; and two of them were 
so impatient, and presumed so much on their supe- 
rior merit, that, without, regarding the offence it 
Would necessarily give to the other apostles^ they 
actually applied to Jesus for the distinction of sit- 
ting the one on his right hand and the other on his 
left, when he should be in the possession of his, 
kingdom. 

Though Jesus never failed to repress these am- 
bitious views, and never gave the least encou- 
ragement to them in any of the apostles, not even 
in Peter, whose pretensions seem to have been the 
best founded, they all retained this idea till the 
time of his death. This event so contrary to their 
D 4. expecta- 



5$ 



ON THE CHANGS 



expectations, disconcerted and confounded theni, 
and necessarily obliged them to give up all their 
fond expectations of worldly preferment. But after 
his resurrection their ambition revived, and they 
could not forbear to ask him (Acts I. 6.) if he 
would then restore the kingdom to Israel, expect- 
ing, no doubt, to share in the honours and emolu- 
ments of it. 

That he was destined to be a king, and they 
were to partake of the honours of his kingdom, he 
had never denied. Nay he had given them posi- 
tive assurance of it, saying (Matt. XIX. 28.) that 
" when he should sit upon the throne of his glory, 
u they should also sit upon twelve thrones, judg- 
%< ing the twelve tribes of Israel. " But at the same 
time he gave them sufficient intimation that his 
kingdom was not to resemble the kingdoms of this 
world, in* which the great mass of the people were 
subservient to the gratification of a few. For that, 
on the contrary, the persons the most distinguished 
in his kingdom w ould be those who should be the 
mostassklucus to promote the happiness of others, 
or that they would be in fact in the capacity of ser- 
vants, as he himself in reality was. 

Whether they clearly understood his meaning 

does 



OF CHARACTER, &C, $7 

cjoes not appear, but it* is probable they did not. 
For still their chief expectations were confined to 
the honour and advantage that would accrue to 
themselves, without attending to any obligation, 
they would be under to promote the good of others. 
Whatever was meant by this kingdom, in the ho- 
nours of which they were to partake, he never gave 
them any information concerning the time of its 
commencement. Nay, he expressly told them 
that this was not known even to himself. After his 
resurrection he professed the same ignorance, and, 
repressing their curiosity on that subject, he said 
" it was not for them to know the times and seasons 
<f which God had reserved to himself. Acts I. 9. 

Reflection, however, on the death of their master, 
cn his resurrection and ascension, without.his hav- 
ing given them any promise of his speedy return, 
and the recollection of the persecutions to which 
he had constantly apprized them they would be ex- 
posed, as that " they would be hated of all men for 
" his name's sake, and that they who should kill 
" them would think they did God service,' * could 
not fail to satisfy them that they had nothing of ad- 
vantage to look for in this life ; and tiierefore that 
the kingdom which he had promised them, and of 

D 5. the 



58 



€>N THE CHANGE 



the certainty of which they entertained no doubt r 
must be in another after death. And when, after 
this, they found themselves impowered to work 
miracles as Jesus had done, in confirmation of his 
doctrine, they, naturally timid as they had been be- 
fore, assumed the courage of the antient prophets, 
no more overawed by men in power than they or 
their master had been, and making light of, nay glo- 
rying in, all the sufferings to which they were ex- 
posed. 

This natural effect of their new situation, and 
new and more enlarged views, astonished their ad- 
versaries, who wojidered how men in some of the 
lower classes of life, without fortune or education, 
should appear so fearless ; and, without respecting 
any human authority, despising their threats, and 
their punishments, boldly preach what they thought 
themselves authorized by God to do, though in 
the most peremptory manner forbidden by them. 

From this time, also, so far were they from envy- 
ing one another, or contending, as they had done 
before, about the chief places in then* master's king- 
dom ; having now no distinct idea of any difference 
that would be made among them hereafter, they 
considered one another as brethren, standing in the 
same relation to their eommon master ; . and being 

equally 



OF CHARACTER, &C. 



59 



equally exposed to persecution on that account, their 
attachment to one another was such as the world 
had never seen before. Remembering at the same 
time the great stress that their master had laid on 
brotherly love, and the mutual kind offices that 
flowed from it ; and considering all the things of 
this world as wholly insignificant in comparison 
with their glorious expectations in another, many 
of them made no difficulty, in the first ardour in- 
spired by their situation, of giving up all their 
worldly property to those of their brethren who 
stood in need of it, insure expectation of receiving 
their reward in heaven. 

This most remarkable and sudden, and yet per- 
manent, change in the temper and disposition of 
the apostles, and other primitive christians, fur- 
nishes no inconsiderable evidence of the trudi of 
Christianity, as it implies the fullest possible con- 
viction in their minds of the truth of the great facts 
on which it depends ; the facts which immediately 
preceded this change, and must have been the pro- 
per cause of it, and they were certainly the best 
jwdges in the case. If they had not all known, to the 
greatest certainty, that Jesus was actually risen from 
the dead, and ascended into heaven, and that the 

powers 



60 



ON THE CHANG! 



powers with winch he had been endued were trans- 
ferred to them, they must have been the same men 
that they were before, acting upon the same princi- 
ples, and in the same manner, especially as they 
were not very young men, and some of them pretty 
far advanced in life. Consequently, their worldly 
ambition, and their envy and jealousy of each other^ 
must have been the same that it had been before. 
Whereas now we find every thing of this kind quite 
changed, and this change was not momentary, but 
continued through life with them all. The low 
passions and narrow views, and their consequent 
envy and jealousy, never returned, but they con- 
tinued to the latest period of life what they appear 
to have been presently after the remarkable events 
above mentioned. 

That such men as they evidently were, and espe- 
cially in the middle and lower classes of life, un- 
learned, and so many of them, should concur in any 
imposture, and one so suddenly formed as their's 
must have been, whatever had been its object, cannot 
be supposed, and much less an object that had no • 
thing in it that mankind in general value in this life ; 
and especially that they should all act in such per- 
fect harmony so long. That not one of them should, 
though urged by the fear of death, or the hope of 

reward, 



OF CHARACTER, &C. 61 

reward, should have made any discovery to the 
prejudice of their former associates, and that none 
of their enemies, sagacious and inveterate as many of 
them were, should have been able to detect their 
imposture, adds infinitely to the improbability of its 
being one. 

When these new and great views first opened 
upon the converts to Christianity, when they saw their 
cause to be that of God, by the evidence of the mi 
racles which supported it, and they were themselves 
occasionally under supernatural influence, this ex- 
traordinary fervour, and the effects of it, especially 
in acts of beneficence to their brethren, was natural. 
But as first impressions are always the warmest, 
this zeal would in a course of time as naturally a- 
bate, especially as miracles became less frequent, 
and their intercourse with the world would gradu- 
ally tend to produce the same attention to the things 
of this world by which other persons were influ- 
enced. 

In this situation many of them would require to 

be reminded of their great views and expectations 

in another world, by which they had at first been so 

much impressed, and to be exhorted to the virtues. 

to which they lea$. Accordingly, the apostles, 

seeing 



62 



ON THE CHANGE 



seeing no doubt this unfavonrable influence, and 
aware of the tendency and progress of it, do not 
fail in their epistles to warn them on the subject ; 
and this they do with a distinctness and energy of 
which we find no example before their time. 

And as we at this distance from the time of the 
first propagation of Christianity, who receive all our 
impressions of it from reading and meditation, and 
especially as we live in a season qf rest from all per- 
secution (a situation which has its disadvantages as 
well as its advantages) are naturally less under in- 
fluences of its principles, and more exposed to 
those of the world at large, it may be useful to col- 
lect, and particularly attend to, all that the apostles 
have urged on this most interesting of all subjects - f 
that we may see the firmness of their faith in the 
great doctrine of a resurrection and a future state, 
and the influence which they evidently thought it 
ought to have on men's sentiments and conduct. 

It will also be pleasing, as well as useful, to ob- 
serve the difference which these views made in the 
state of their own minds. What a wonderful 
change was produced in them after the death and 
resurrection of their master, so that they were no 
longer the same men. 

I 



OF CHARACTER, &6. 



63 



1 shall begin with the epistle of Peter, the chief 
of the apostles, but, who had, no doubt, been as 
much under the influence of worldly ambition as 
any of them, as may be suspected from his observ- 
ing (Mark XVI. 28.) that " they had forsaken all" 
to follow Jesu s , and desiring to know what they shou Id 
receive as a compensation for the sacrifice, at that 
time, no doubt, expecting it in this life. What 
were his views and expectations afterwards, and 
to the close of a long life, we shall now see. At 
the same time we cannot fail to perceive a peculiar 
dignity and energy in the language of this apostle, 
worthy of the chief of them. The faith of Paul 
was equally strong, and led him to act with the 
same disinterestedness and courage, and it is proba- 
ble that he went through more labour, and in the 
course of his preaching suffered more ; but his 
language on the same subject has not quite the 
same dignity, and force. 

With what confidence and exultatitfn does this 

apostle speak of the sure hope of christians in ano- 
ther world, and how justly, and forcibly, does he 
urge it as a motive to bear with patience and cheer- 
fulness all the persecutions to which they were 
exposed, in the following passages of his epistles. 
" Blessed be the God and father of our Lord Je- 

u sus 



64 



THI CHANGE 



" sus Christ, who, according to his abundant mef* 
" cy, has begotten us again to a lively hope, by the 
" resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an 
" inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that 
" fadeth not away, reserved in heaven, for you who 
" are kept by the power of God through faith unto 
" salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time; 
" wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now, for a 
<fi season, ye be in heaviness through manifold 
1 < temptations ; that the trial of your faith (being 
" much more precious than of gold which perish- 
" es) may be found unto praise, and honour, and 
m giory, at the appearance of Jesus Christ ; whom 
" having not seen ye love, in whom though now ye 
" see him not, yet believing ye rejoice with joy un- 
u speakable and full of glory, receiving the end of 
" your faith, even the salvation of your souls, 55 
1 Pet. I. 3. &c. 

" Beloved, think it not strange concerning the 
" fiery trial which is to try you, as if some strange 
" thing happened \into you, but rejoice, in as much 
"as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings ; that 
" when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad 
<l with exceeding joy. If ye be reproached for 
" the name of Christ happy are ye, for the spirit of 
" Glory and of God resteth upon you. On their 

part 



OF CHARACTER, 65" 

" part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is 
" glorified." 

" If any man suffer as a christian let him not be 
" ashamed, but let him glorify God on this behalf. 
" Wherefore let him that suffers according to the 
" will of God commit the keeping of his soul unto 
" him in well doing, as unto a faithful creator." 
1 Pet. IV. 12. &c. 

" Give diligence to make your calling and elec- 
" tion sure. For if ye do these things ye shall ne- 
" ver fail ; for so an entrance shall be administered 
" to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom 
V of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ." 2 Pet. 
I. 10. 

" The God of all grace, who has called us to his 
" eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after ye have siifrer- 
" ed awhile, make you perfect, stablish, strength- 
" en, settle you." 1 Pet. V. 10. 

" When the chief shepherd shall appear, ye 
" shall receive a crown of glory that fadetli not a- 
" way." 1 Pet. V.4. 

" Wherefore, gird up the loins of your mind, be 
" sober, and hope to the end, for the grace that is to 
" be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus 
"Christ." 1 Pet. I. 13. 

E. Well 



66 



ON TEE CHANGE 



Well then might he say, " If ye suffer for righte- 
1 ' ousness sake happy are ye. Be not afraid of their 
" terror, neither be troubled. " 1 1 Pet. III. 14. 

With what noble magnanimity does this apostle 
contemplate the dissolution of the present state of 
things, and the commencement of the glorious one 
that is to follow it, adopting the language of the an- 
tient prophets in describing great revolutions in the 
world. 

" Seeing that all these things shall be dissolved, 
" what manner of persons ought we to be in all holy 
* c )@on versatidri and godliness; looking for, and 
" hasting unto, the coming of the day of God, 
" wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dis~ 
" solved, and the elements melt with fervent heat. 
u Nevertheless, we, according to his promise, look 
" for new heavens, and a new earth, wherein dwel* 
<6 leth righteousness. Wherefore, beloved, seeing 
" ye look for such things* be diligent, that ye may 
" be found of Mm without spot and blameless. " 2 
" Pet. III. 11. &c. 

The consideration of the time when this great and 
happy event is to take place gave him no concern, 
since he depended upon the certainty of it ; and 
when we are dead the time of the resurrection will 

be 



OF CHARACTER, &X. 67 

be a matter of perfect indifference to all of us. 
For whatever be the time of our death, that of the 
resurrection will appear to us to be contiguous to it. 
And the reason for the seeming delay, and of the 
uncertainty with respect to the time of the resurrec- 
tion and future judgment, are very rationally and 
satisfactorily given by him, on the principle of this 
being a state of trial and discipline, in which it be- 
hoves us to be in continual expectation and prepa- 
ration for an event so infinitely momentous. 

" There will come in the last days scoffers, walk- 
" ing after their own lusts, and saying Where is the 
" promise of his coming ; for since the fathers fell 
" asleep all things continue as they were from the 
"■beginning of the creation. But, beloved, be not 
" ignorant of this one thing, that one day is wi th the 
" Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years 
"as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning 
" his promise, but is long suffering to us ward, not 
" willing that any should perish, but that all should 
" come to repentance." 2 Pet. III. 3. &c. 

Such is the animating and consoli ng; language of 
this great apostle, addressed to his fellow christians, 
then in a state of persecution, which left them no 
prospect of peace or comfort in this life. And, 
E 2. surely 



68 



ON THE CHANGE 



surety, it must have been effectual to answer its pur- 
pose. The wa itings of this apostle are such as we 
may quote as authority for the truth of this great 
doctrine of, another life, as he received it from Je- 
sus, and it was confirmed by miracles wrought by 
himself, as well as by his brother apostles, who 
were endued with the same powers of which they 
had been witnesses in their common master. 

The apostle John was one of the two brothers the 
sons of Zebedee, whose eager ambition led them o- 
penly to solicit the most distinguished honours in 
the kingdom of their master, though at the evident 
risk of giving the greatest offence to the rest of the 
twelve , all whose pretensions must have been near- 
ly as good as theirs. But how changed do we find 
him at the time of writing his epistles. Here we 
are far from perceiving any marks of worldly ambi- 
tion. On the contrary, no man could appear to be 
more weaned from any attachment to this world, 
or more desirous to wean others from it, u Love 
" not the world," says this heavenly- minded apos- 
tle, " nor the things that are in the world. If any 
" man love the world, the love of the father is not iir 
" him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the 
" flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life, 

"is 



OP CHARACTER, &C, 



69 



w is not of the Father, but is of the world ; and th t 
u world passes away, and the lust thereof, but he 
" that doth the will of God abideth fcr ever/' 
1 John XL 15. &c. 

Such is the change that new views and principles 
can make in men. It is not now any thing in this 
life, which is so uncertain, but that eternal life, 
promised by Jesus, that is the object of his pursuit ; 
and this he thus earnestly recommends to others. 
*' This," says he, 1 John II. 25, " is the promise 
M which he has promised us, even eternal life. This 
" is the record that God has given us ; eternal 
u life and this life is in his son. These things I 
" have written unto you that ye may believe on 
u the name of the son of God, and that ye mr/ 
a know that ye have eternal life." 1 John VL 1. &c, 

With what joyful expectation does he now look 
forward to the return of his master in his glory and 
kingdom. "Beloved, now are we the sons of God, 
" and it does not yet appear what we shall be, but 
" we know that when, he shall appear we shall be 
J* like him, for we shall see him as he is, III. 2. And 
" we, little children, abide in him, that when he 
*\ shall appear we may have confidence, and not be 
£ ashamed before him at his coming," II. 28. 

E i la 



70 



ON THE CHANGE 



In the beck cf Revelation, interpreting this glo- 
ry, he says Ch. I. 7. " Behold he comethin the 
" clouds, and every eye shall see him, and they also 
u who pierced him, and all the kindreds of the 
" earth, shall wail because of him;" meaning, no 
doubt, his enemies, and by no means his friends, 
to whom it will be a season of the greatest joy and 
triumph. There, as Jesus said before, John XVI. 
22, " their sorrow will be turned into joy. Now 
H ye are in sorrow, but I will see you again, and 
" your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man 
" taketh from you." Then the glory which his 
father gave to him he will give to them, XVII. 22. 

James, the other ambitious brother, was the first 
of the apostles who died a martyr to Christianity, 
being beheaded by Herod Agrippa, fourteen years 
after the death of Christ; so that there cannot be 
a doubt but that he had abandoned all views to ad- 
vancement in this world, as well as the rest of the 
apostles. Though this James died the first of all 
the apostles, his brother John long survived them 
all. For he lived some time after his banishment to 
the isle of Patmos in the reign of Domitian, which 
was probably in A. D. 94. From the fate of James 
the rest of the apostles might see what they had to 

expect 



OF CHARACTER, &C 71 

expect in this life ; and yet it is evident that it did 
not operate as a discouragement to them. They 
all perished in the same persecuted cause, and most 
of them probably with no better treatment than he 
met with. 

The other apostles of whom we have any writing 
left, viz. James and Jude, the former called the 
brother of Jesus, being either his natural brother of 
the same parents, or some near relation, breathes 
the same exalted spirit with Peter and John, earn- 
estly exhorting his brethren to bear with patience 
and fortitude all the sufferings of this life, in the 
joyful expectation of receiving an abundant reconi- 
pence in another. 

" My brethren," he says, Ch. V. 7. " count it 
<£ all joy when ye fall into divers temptations, or ra- 
" ther trials," and again (L 2.) " Blessed is the 
" man that endureth temptation, for when he is tri- 
" ed he shall receive the crown of life which the 
" Lord has promised to them that love him. V. 
" 12. Be patient brethren unto the coming of the 
" Lord. Behold the husbandman waiteth for the 
" precious fruit of the earth, and has long patience 
" for it, until he receive the early and latter rains. 
" Be ye also patient, establish your hearts ; for the 
«' coming of the Lord draweth nigh," V. 7. 

E 4. Jude, 



72 



ON THE CHANGE 



Jude, to the same purpose, says, v 21. " Keep 
" yourselves in the love of God, looking for the 
" coming of cur Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal 
" glory ;" and he concludes his short epistle in the 
following animating manner. " Now to him who 
" is able to keep you from falling, and to present 
" you faultless before the presence of his glory, 
" with exceeding joy, to the only wise God our sa- 
" viour be glory and majesty, dominion, and pow- 
" er, both now and forever." 

Except Matthew, the author of the Gospel 
which bears his name, no other of the twelve apos- 
tles were writers. They were not ambitious, nor 
indeed were those whose writings we have at all am- 
bitious, to be known totheworld, andto be celebrat- 
ed, as such. They only wrote what their circumstan- 
ces, and those of their disciples, required ; being con- 
tent to wait for every honourable distinction till the 
return of their common master. We cannot, how- 
ever, doubt but that their disciples, being, where - 
everthey were, in the same circumstances with those 
to whom the epistles of the other apostles were ad- 
dressed, they exhorted them on the same princin 
pies, referring them to that great day when the 
wicked will receive a due punishment, and the 

righteous 



©F CHARACTER, &C 73 

righteous an ample reward, and teaching them, as 
the other apostles did, not to place their affections 1 
€>n any thing in this world, or to be disturbed at 
any sufferings to which they should be exposed 
here; since they could only be for a time, and 
would bear no sensible proportion to the advan- 
tage they would* derive from bearing them as be- 
came christians, that is with patience, fortitude, 
and with meekness, and without any ill will to 
their persecutors ; and at the same time contribut- 
ing eveiy thing in their power to lessen the suffer- 
ings of their brethren. 

How different is this disposition from that which 
is admired by the world at large, but how superior 
is it in the eye of reason, as it implies a greater com- 
mand of temper, less governed by things present, 
and arising from a more extensive and enlarged 
view of things, the only proper evidence of our 
advance in intellectual above sensual life. 

With this we, as well as all other animals, neces- 
sarily begin our career of existence, and the brutes 
never in general get much beyond it ; but experi- 
ence and observation lead men to extend their views, 
to reflect upon the past, and look forward to the fu- 
ture ; and in this progress we pass from selfishness 
E 5. to 



74 



©ST THE CHANGE, ScC. 



to benevolence, and from the contemplation of na- 
ture to the veneration and love of the great author 
of nature, both in doing and suffering, without any 
regard to what may be the consequence in this life, 
assured that by such sentiments, and such conduct, 
we shall not finally be any losers ; but that when 
we shall have done the will of God, and have seen 
his goodness here below, an abundant entrance will 
in due time be administered to us in his everlasting 
kingdom and glory. 



ON 



75 



ON 

THE CHANGE WHICH TOOK PLACE IN THE 
CHARACTER OF THE APOSTLES AF- 
TER THE RESURRECTION OF 

JESUS CHRIST. 

[PART II ] 



And when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, 
and perceived that they were unlearned and igno- 
rant men, they marvelled, and they took knowledge 
&f them that they had been with Jesus. 

Acts IV. 13. 

In the preceding discourse we considered the ve- 
ry remarkable change in the views and character of 
the twelve original apostles in general, and especi- 
ally of those whose epistles furnish the proper evi- 
dence of it, viz. those of Peter, James, John, and 
Jude, We have seen that from being men of 
worldly ambition, expecting honours and rewards 
under the Messiah in this world, they suddenly a- 
bandoned every prospect of the kind looking to 
nothing but a reward in heaven ; and that in the 
firm belief and expectation of this; they bore them- 

selves, 



70 



ON THE CHANGE 



selves, and exhorted others to bear, all the sufFer- 
ings -to which for the profession of Christianity they 
could be exposed. 

The clearness and energy with which they ex- 
press themselves on. this subject is most interesting 
find animating, and deserves as much attention in 
our days of peace as in theirs of persecution. For 
if their situation required motives to patience and 
fortitude, ours requires constant admonition, lest 
the cares of this world' should^- wholly exclude, as 
they naturally tend to do, all consideration of ano- 
ther. I shall, therefore, proceed to give as parti- 
cular an account of the sentiments and exhortations 
of the apostle Paul on this subject as I did of those 
of the other apostles. 

The change in the conduct, though not perhaps 
in the character, of Paul was as great, and as sud- 
den, as that in the other apostles. Since from be- 
ing a most violent persecutor of Christianity, he not 
only became a christian liimself, but a most active 
and successful propagator of Christianity, especially 
in countries distant from Judea , and he seems to 
fcave gone through more hardships, and to hare 
suffered more persecution of various kinds, on that 
account, during the course of a long life, than any 

other 



OF CHARACTER, <kc. 



77 



other ot the apostles; and at last, according to ec- 
clesiastical history, he suffered martyrdom at 
Rome. 

Of the worldly ambition of Paul we have no 
other evidence than the indirect one, which arises 
from his entering into the views of the leading men 
of his nation, and being the most active instrument 
they could employ; from which he would, no 
doubt, expect such rewards as men in power usu- 
ally bestow ; though at the same time his chief mo- 
tive might be a genuine zeal for his religion, of the 
divine authority of which he entertained no doubt, 
and to which he thought the principles of Christiani- 
ty were hostile. He therefore believed it to be a 
duty which he owed to God and his religion, as 
well as to his earthly superiors, to do every thing in 
his power to suppress it. In other respects his ge- 
neral moral character was as unimpeachable as that 
of the other apostles. They were alike men of pi- 
ty, integrity, and sobriety, though misled by the 
prejudices of their countrymen, who all expected a 
temporal prince in their Messiah, and therefore 
looked for such honours and emoluments as tempo- 
ral princes have it in their power to bestow. 

Thinking, as I have observed, that we in this 



78 ON THE CHANGE 

age stand in as much need of admonition and ex- 
hortation concerning our interest in a future world 
as the primitive christians, I shall lay before you 
what the apostle Paul advanced on this subject, and 
we shall see it to be no less explicit and animating, 
and furnishing more information with respect to it 
than we find in the writings of the other apostles. 
In zeal and courage Paul yielded tp no man, he 
derived his knowledge from the same source, viz. 
from Jesus in person, and his writings tend in an 
eminent degree to inspire the sentiments which he 
entertained himself. As the passages in the writ- 
ings of this apostle relating to a future state are 
numerous, I shall recite them in the order of time 
in which they were written, beginning with the e- 
pistles to the Thessalonians, which were the first. 

In Thessalonica Paul preached but a short time r 
probably not more than three weeks, Acts XVIL 
1. &c. and so ill was he received there by the un- 
believing Jews, who represented him and his com- 
panions as men who turned the world upside down, 
that he was persuaded to leave the place by night. 
The shortness of the time, therefore, would not ad- 
mit of the converts there being fully instructed in 
all the principles of the new religion ; and happily 
for us they had so far misunderstood what he had 

taught 



OF CHARACTER, ScC. 79 

taught them concerning the resurrection, that he 
found it necessary to explain himself further on 
the subject, in an epistle which he wrote to them as 
soon as he reached Athens ; since by this means we 
are acquainted with some circumstances concern- 
ing it which we could not learn from any other of 
the books of scripture. 

It was a custom with the heathens to make loud 
lamentations over their dead, which, if they had 
any value for them while they lived, was natural, as 
they had no expectation of seeing them any more. 
This custom Paul thought unbecoming christians, 
and therefore he says (1 Thess. IV. 13.) "I would 
u not have you be ignorant, brethren, concerning 
44 them that sleep, that we sorrow not as others 
44 who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus 
44 died and rose again, even so they also who sleep 
" in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we 
44 say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we 
44 who are alive and remain unto the coming of the 
44 Lord shall not prevent" (or rather shall not have 
any advantage oyer) 44 them that are asleep. For 
44 the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with 
44 a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and the 
44 trump of God? and the dead in Christ shall rise 

44 first. 



80 



ON THE CHANGE 



" first. Then we who are alive and remain shall 
" be caught up together with them in the clouds. 
" to meet the Lord in the air, and ss shall we ever 
" be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one a- 
" nother with these words." 

This was, indeed, a source of consolation abun- 
dantly sufficient for the purpose, and peculiar to 
them as christians ; so that they had no occasion to 
lament the death of their christian friends as the hea- 
thens did theirs, since they might depend upon 
seeing them again after the resurrection, and in 
circumstances far more advantageous than any they 
had known here. 

It appealing that these christians at Thessalonica 
were still under some misapprehension about the 
doctrine of the resurrection, and especially about 
the time of it, conceiving it to be much nearer than 
it was, the apostle saw reason to address to them a- 
nother epistle, not long after writing the first, and 
to correct the mistake they were under he says (2 
Thess. II. 1. &c.) " Now we beseech you, bre- 
" thren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
" and by our gathering together unto him, that ye 
" be not soon shaken in mind, nor be troubled, as 
" that the day of Christ is at hand. Let no man de- 

" ceive 



OF CHARACTER, &X. 81 

" ceivc you by any means. For that day shall not 
" come unless there be a falling away first." He 
then proceeds to point out to them an antichristian 
power that was to arise in the church before the 
coming of Christ, from which they might gather 
that this great event could not be so near as they had 
imagined. .. . 

As this christian church at Thessalonica was 
soon exposed to much persecution, the apostle en- 
courages the members of it to bear their sufferings 
with patience and fortitude, from the consideration 
of the abundant recompence that would be made to 
them at the coming of Christ, which would be as 
dreadful to their enemies, as it would be joyful 
to them. 

" We are bound"" he says, " to thank God al- 
* c ways for you, brethren, as it is meet, because your 
* 4 faith groweth exceedingly, and the charity of eve- 
" ry one of you all towards each other aboundeth ; 
i C so that we ourselves glory in you in the churches 
" of God for your patience and faith in all your per- 
" secutions and tribulations that ye endure : which 
" is a manifest token of the righteous judgment 
" of God, that ye may be accounted worthy of the 
" kingdom of God for which ye also suffer. Seeing 

F. " it 



82 



ON THE CHANGE 



" it is a righteous thing with God to recompencc 
" tribulation to them that trouble you. And to 
u you who are troubled rest with us ; when the 
" Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with 
4 i his mighty angels, inflaming fire, taking ven- 
" geance on them that know not God, and that o- 
" bey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: who 
" shall be punished with everlasting destruction 
" from the presence of the Lord, and from the glo- 
" ry of his power, when he shall come to beglori- 
" fied in his saints, and to be admired in all them 
" that believe." 

With great reason did the apostle exhort these 
christians ( 1 Thes$. III. 3. ) notto be moved by their 
affliction. "You yourselves," says he, "know 
" that we are appointed thereunto. For verily 
" when we were with you, we told you before, that 
" we should suffer tribulation, even as it came to 
" pass, and ye know." 

If it was happy for us that the Thessalonian chris- 
tians mistook the meaning of the apostle with re- 
spect to the resurrection, it is more so that those at 
Corinth perverted it by a false philosophy ; because 
we derive more advantage from the conceit of the 
latter, than from the ignorance of the former, as it 

gave 



OF CHARACTER, &C. 83 

gave occasion to the apostle to explain himself still 
more fully on the subject in his epistle to them. 
For in this he leaves little that we could reasonably 
wish to know concerning it. 

it 

The christians at Corinth misled by the principles 
of the Greek philosophy, were disposed to treat the 
doctrine of a resurrection with contempt, as a most 
improbable thing, as it also appeared to the Gnos- 
tic christians, and imagined that the apostle in an- 
nouncing it must have had some other than a literal 
meaning. They held matter, and the body which 
is composed of it, in great contempt, and thought 
it a happy circumstance for the immaterial soul to 
be delivered from it by death, so far were they from 
wishing for a reunion with it at the resurrection. 
But the apostle, who, with the Jews, expected no fu- 
ture life but in the supposition of a proper resurrec- 
tion, paid no attention to this Grecian philosophy ; 
and therefore he considered the disbelief of the re- 
surrection to be the same thing with the disbelief 
of a future state altogether ; saying (1 Cor. XV. 
17.) " If Christ be not raised, your faith is vain, ye 
are yet in your sins. ' ' For he justly observed that, 
if there be no general resurrection, there are no par- 
ticular ones, not even that of Christ, whereas there 
F 2. was 



'84 



ON THE CHANGE 



was the most direct and abundant evidence of the 
reality of his resurrection, which is the assurance 
of ours. 

On this account he particularly enumerates most 
of the appearances of Jesus after he was raised from 
the dead, and especially his appearing to more than 
five hundred of his disciples at one time, most of 
whom were then living, and could attest it. But 
the resurrection of Jesus is a pledge of ours. Con- 
sequently, the apostle calls him (v. 20.) the first 
fruits of them that sleep ; the great har%est y to which 
he alludes by the mention of the first fruits ', being 
the resurrection of all his followers. It has pleased 
God, he observes, that "as by man came death, 
* - so by man also comes the resurrection of the dead, 
" and that as in Adam all die, so in Christ shall all 
" be made alive." And as all power is to be put 
into the hands of Christ, and all his enemies are to 
be subdued by him, the last of them is death. 

After this he proceeds to answer several objecti- 
ons that were made to the doctrine of the resurrecti- 
on, especially with respect to the kind of body, with 
which men will rise ; and he observes that as eve- 
ry kind of corn that men sow and reap is renewed 
after being buried in the ground, it will be the same 

with 



OF CHARACTER, 8tC. 85 

with men, but with this advantage, that our future 
bodies will not be like the present ones, liable to 
corruption, disease and death ; for that with respect 
to it they may be called spiritual, like the glorified 
body of Jesus, 

The same advantageous change he observes will 
take place in those who shall be alive at the coming 
of Christ. " We shall not all sleep, but we shall 
" all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of 
" an eye, at the last trump. For the trumpet shall 
* ' sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, 
;< and we shall be changed. For this corruptible 
*' must put on incorruption, and this mortal must 
" put on immortality." After this, in the language, 
of triumph, he adds, referring to a passage in Isaiah, 
" O death where is thy sting, O grave where is thy 
* 6 victory. Thanks be to God who gives us the 
" victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. " 

On this glorious doctrine he immediately 
grounds this natural exhortation. £i Therefore my 
* 4 beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, immoveable, 
ff always, abounding in the work of the Lord, for- 
" asmuch as ye know that your labour shall not be 
u in vain in the Lord." Indeed there cannot be 
any more powerful motive to the diligent practice 
F 3. of 



86 



ON THE CHANGE 



of our duty, and a steady perseverance in it. 

This was the great encouragement and support 
to Paul himself under all the trials that he under- 
went in the propagation of the gospel, as we see in 
this epistle. ''If 5 ? he says, v. 32, " after the manner 
"of men I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, 
" what advantage have we if the dead rise not. Let 
"us eat and drink for to-morrow we die." 

In his second epistle he has recourse to the same 
animating prospect as that which supported him 
under all his tribulations. "2 Cor. IV. 8. We are 
" troubled on every side" he says " but not distres- 
" sed. We are perplexed, but not in despair ; per- 
" secuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but n©t de- 
M stroyed ; always bearing about in the body the dy- 
" irig of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus 
" might be manifested in our body. For we who live 
"are always delivered unto death for Jesus sake, 
" that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest 
" in our mcrta. fesh." ib. 16. " For this 
" cause we faint not; for though our outer man 
iC perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by 
6 ' day. For our light affliction, which is but for a 
i, " moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding 
4C and eternal weight of glory ; while we look not 

" at 



01' CHARACTER, &c. 87 

cc at the things which are seen, but at the things 
" which are not seen. For the things which are seen 
u are temporal ; but the things which are not seen 
" are eternal." " For we know that if our earthly 
" house of this our tabernacle be dissolved, 
H we have a building of God, a house not 
" made with hands, eternal in the heavens. " 
V. l.&c. 

" There is a peculiar energy in all the epistles that 
Paul wrote from Home, where he was two years a 
prisoner, expecting his condemnation or acquittal at 
the tribunal of the emperor, to whom he had appeal- 
ed from his perju diced judges in Judea. Then 
too he was far advanced in life, and sensible that his 
continuance in it could not be long. In these cir- 
cumstances his epistles are like the dying advices of 
an affectionate parent, urging upon his children such 
considerations as he then felt would be of the most 
importance to them. And a view to a future state 
of rest and reward would naturally be uppermost 
in the mind of one who had laboured and suffered 
so much as he had done in the cause of Christiani- 
ty. Accordingly, we find that a view of this was 
constantly upon his mind, and that he was upon e- 
very occasion directing the views of his fellow 
christians to it F 4. .In 



S3 



ON THE CHANGE 



In the christians at Philippi Paul had found his 
most generous friends, who, it appears, had been, 
more particularly attentive to him than those in o- 
ther places. The Philippians, as well as himself, 
had been exposed to peculiar hardships from their 
first reception of the gospel. But how light did he 
make of ail his sufferings, thereby intimating that 
they ought to make as little account of theirs in the 
same cause, when he says, Phil. III. 8. " Yea 
" doubtless and I count all things but loss for the 
6C excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesu s my 
" Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all 
" things, and count them but dung that I may win 
" Christ, that I may know him, and the power of his 
44 resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, 
4 4 being made conformable unto his death; if by 
c ' any means I may attain to the resurrection of the 
" dead" (Phil. III. 8. &c.) " Our conversation is in 
" heaven, from whence also we look for a Saviour, 
" the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall change our vile 
" body, that it may be fashioned like unto hisglo- 
ic rified body, according to the working whereby he 
" is able even to subdue all things unto himself. " 
Phil. III. 20. &c. 

W e have no account of Paul ever preaching at 

Colos- 



Or CHARACTER, £vC. C 'J 

Colosse, but by some means or other the gospel had 
been preached and received there, as indeed it soon 
was in all the cities of Asia Minor. To these 
christians the apostle now writes from Rome, and 
in his epistle he does not neglect to remind them of 
their great interest in a future state, as a recom- 
pence for all their good deeds and sufferings in this. 
" We give thanks to God and the Father of our 
" Lord Jesus Christ, praying sjwajs for you since 
" we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and the 
" love which you have for all saints ; for the hope 
" that is laid up for you in heaven, whereof ye have 
* 6 heard before in the word of the truth of the gos- 
"pel." Col. I. 3. &c. 

Timothy was a favourite disciple and fellow la- 
bourer with this apostle, who, after travelling with 
him, as an assistant and an evangelist, resided at E- 
phesus, a city of the greatest note in Asia Minor, 
and the metropolis of Asia proper. This, there- 
fore, was a station of peculiar importance ; and ac- 
cordingly the apostle, in the epistle which he wrote 
to him from Rome, which is the second (for the 
first epistle to him was written long before when 
Paul was at Corinth) takes great pains to encou- 
rage and animate him, urging more especially the 

considera- 



90 



ON THE CHANGE 



consideration of their future glorious prospects. "Be 
" not therefore," says he, (2 Tim. I. 8.) " asham- 
*' ed of the testimony of the Lord, nor of me his 
" prisoner. But be thou partaker of the afflictions 
" of the gospel, according to the power of God, who 
" has saved us, and called us to^aholy calling ; not 
" according to our works, but according to his 
" purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ 
" Jesus before the world began, but is now made 
" manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus 
u Christ, who has abolished death, and brought 
" life and immortality to light through the gospel. ' ' 
As a farther encouragement to him, he expresses 
his own satisfaction in the near view of his death. 
" I suffer," he says, (II. 9.) iC as an evildoer, but 
" the word of God is not bound," as he then was. 
t* Therefore I endure all things for the elect's sake, 
" that they also may obtain salvation which is in 
u Christ Jesus with eternal glory. This is a faith- 
" ful saying, that if we be dead with him, we shall 
" also live with him ; if we suffer, we shall also 
" reign with him. If we deny him, he also will 
u deny us." 

In this near view of death he rejoices in the pros- 
pect of it, as the termination of all those labours 

which 



OF CHARACTER, &C. 



91 



which would entitle him to a glorious recompence 
" For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of 
" my departure is at hand. I have fought the good 
" fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the 
" faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown 
" of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous 
" judge, shall give me at that day ; and not to me 
" only, but to all them that love his appearing." 
2 Tim. IV. 6. 

From these weighty considerations he gives Ti- 
mothy the most solemn charge to attend to his du- 
ty as an evangelist, with a view to this great reward. 
" I charge thee before God (IV. 1. ) and the Lord 
" Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the 
" dead at his appearing and his kingdom. Preach 
" the word, be instant in season and out of season, 
" reprove, rebuke, exhort, with all long suffering 
46 and doctrine. " 

Titus was another disciple and fellow labourer 
with Paul, and was by him stationed in the isle of 
Crete. Here likewise he earnestly exhorts to dili- 
gence, reminding him, as he had done Timothy, of 
the hope of eternal life, which he says, 1. 2. "God, who 
£t cannot lie, has promised before the worldbegan." 
" The grace of God, has appeared unto all men, 

" teaching 



92 ON THE CHANGE 

" teaching us that denying ungodliness and world- 
" ly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously and 
" godly in this present world ; looking for thatbles- 
" sedhope, and the glorious appealing of the great 
" God and our Saviour Jesus Christ, who gave 
" himself for us that he might redeem us from all 
" iniquity, and purify to himself a peculiar people, 
" zealous of good works," II. 11. &e< 

The Jewish or Hebrew christians were from the 
first exposed to grievous persecution from their 
bigotted countrymen, and a great proportion of 
them appear to have been in lo w and distressed cir- 
cumstances, so as to stand in need of the benefaction 
of the more wealthy Gentile converts. To these 
the apostle holds out the most comfortable pros- 
pects in futurity. " Here," he says, (Heb. XIII, 
14.) " we have no continuing city, but we seek one 
" to come." And again, XII. 28. " Wherefore 
" we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, 
" let us have grace, whereby we may serve Godac- 
" ceptably, with reverence and godly fear." 

We see in the language of the apostles, and in 
their sentiments and conduct, which corresponded 
with it, the infinite advantage that christians, and even 
unlearned christians had over the most enlightened 

of 



OF CHARACTER, 



93 



of the heathens, with respect to the troubles of 
life and the fear of death, in consequence of the 
firm belief of the former in the great doctrine of a 
future state, which was not only to be the termi- 
nation of all their sufferings, but, under the righ- 
teous moral government of God, a certain means 
of obtaining an abundant recompence for all their 
sufferings in the cause of virtue here, whereas the 
heathens had little knowledge of any moral govern . 
ment of God, or of a providence here, and no 
knowledge at all that could be of any practical 
use of a future state. To them all beyond the 
grave was absolute darkness, but to christians it 
is the most resplendent light. 

The christian sees the hand of God, of his God 
and father, in every thing that befalls him here ; 
and he expects a greater display of his perfections, 
and more evident and uninterrupted marks of his 
favour hereafter. These views enable him to consi- 
der all the troubles of life as a part of that excellent 
and benevolent discipline which is to prepare him 
for future happiness, a discipline which he is taught 
to believe is as necessary to him, as the contrail 1 and 
discipline of a child is to his acquiring the proper 
sentiments and conduct of a man ; qualifying him 

to 



94 



ON THE CHANCE 



to be happy in himself, and disposed to make o 
thers so ; which without this controul and disci- 
pline in the time of childhood and youth, it was 
impossible that he should be. And the near ap- 
proach of death, which at the best cannot but af- 
ford a gloomy prospect to a heathen and an unbe- 
liever, is consequently regarded by him not as an 
object of alarm, or despondence, but a source of 
joy and triumph ; so that when he leaves the 
the world, which he believes to be at the call and 
appointment of him that made him, and sent him 
into, it, he can with the apostle sing the triumphant 
song, O death where is thy sting " O grave where 
is thy victory." Thanks be to God who gives us 
the victory, through our Lord Jesus Christ. 

The difference between the moral writings of 
the heathens, and those of the apostles, to the ad- 
vantage of the latter, cannot but appear upon the 
slightest attention. As these, besides being supe- 
rior in point of clearness, have, from the fulness 
of their persuasion on the subject, which the hea- 
thens had not, infinitely more of animation ; so 
that the perusal of their writings cannot fail to ex- 
cite the same sentiments in others. 
As I have purposely confined myself to the sub- 

ject 



OF CHAR AC TEH, &C. 95 

ject of courage and perseverance, in bearing suf- 
ferings of every kind, and even, persecution unto 
death, from the prospect of a future glorious re- 
ward which was wholly unknown to the heathens, 
I shall now recite a few passages from the epistles 
of Paul, in which mention is made of the suffer- 
ings to which he was exposed, and of his magnani- 
mity in bearing them, without any immediate 
view to a future reward, though no doubt it was 
constantly on his mind. 

At Corinth the christians seem to have been so 
numerous, and respectable, in the time of the a- 
postle, or their fellow citizens so much more civi- 
lized than those of many other places, that they 
were less exposed to persecution than the christi- 
ans in other places ; and they had among them 
some eloquent declaimers, who seem to have de- 
rived pecuniary emolument from their harangues. 
The apostle, therefore, represents their situation 
as enviable with respect to that of other churches, 
and on this account he seems to have chosen to 
describe his own situation by way of contrast with 
theirs. " Now," says he, (1 Cor. 4, 8,) ye are 
"rich. Ye have. reigned as kings without us, 
<< and I would to God that ye did reign, that we 

also 



95 



ON T11Z CHANGE 



" also might reign with you." And he immedi- 
ately adds the following affecting account of his 
own situation. 

" I think that God has set forth Us the apostles 
" last, as it were appointed to death ; for we are 
" made a spectacle to the world, and to angels, 
" and to men. — Even to this hour we both hun- 
" ger and thirst, and are naked, and are buffetted, 
" and have no certain dwelling place, and labour, 
*• working with our own hands. Being reviled, 
" we bless ; being persecuted, we suffer it ; being 
" defamed, we intreat. We are made as the filth 
" of the earth and are the offscourings of all 
" things unto this day." 1 Cor. IV. 9, &c. 

This was in his first epistle to this church. In 
the second, which was written not long after it, he 
still reminds them of his sufferings, to which it is 
probable they had not been sufficiently attentive. 
*' We would not, brethren, have you ignorant of 
" our trouble which came to us in Asia, that we 
" were pressed out of measure, above strength? 
" so that we despaired even of life. But we had 
" the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should 
" not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the 
dead ; who delivered us from so great a death, 

" and 



OF CHARACTER, fee. 97 

'* and doth deliver, in whom we trust that he will 
" yetdeliver.us." 2 .Cor. I. 8. &c. 

" In all things approving ourselves the nun.- 
" isters of God, in much patience, in afflictions, in 
" necessities, in distresses, in stripes, in im prison - 
" ments, in tumults, in labours, in watchings, in 
u fastings — ' — by honour and dishonour, by evil 
M report and good report : as deceivers, and Vet 
c< true; as unknown and yet well known ; as dying 
" and behold we live ; as chastened and not killed ; 
" as sorrowful yet always rejoicing , as poor yet 
" making many rich ; as having nothing and vet 
*.* possessing ail things. " 2 Cor. VI. 4. &c. As 
a contrast of his situation with that of the eloquent 
speakers in this church of Corinth, who seem to 
have been much at their ease, he gives the follow- 
ing affecting account of his labours and sufferings. 
2 Cor. XL 23. &c. u Are they ministers of 
" Christ, I am more. In labours more abundant, 
" in stripes above measure, in prisons more fre- 
quent, in deaths often. Of the Jews five times 
*f received I forty stripes save one. Thrice v as t 
" beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suf- 
li fered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in 
" the deep. In journeying often, in perils of wa* 
% fcers, in perils of robbers, in perils by my own 
G. country- 



98 



ON THE CHANGE 



H countrymen, in perils in the wilderness, in perils 
fct in the sea, in perils among false brethren. In 
6 4 weariness and painfulness. in watchings often, in 
" hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and 
" nakedness. Besides those things that are with- 
out, that which cometh upon me daily, the care o£ 
V all the churches. Who is weak and I am not 
" weak ? who is offended and I burn not ? If I must 
" needs glory, I will glory of the things which con- 
u cern my infirmities. The God and Father of 
e< our Lord Jesus Christ, who is blessed for ever- 
4 4 more knoweth that I lie not. In Damascus 
u the governor under Aretas the king kept the ci- 
" tv of the Damascanes with a garrison, desirous to 
■ ' 44 apprehend me ; and through a window, in a bas- 
u ket, I was let down by the wall, and escaped his 
" hands." 

In his epistle from Rome, written in the near 
prospect of death, after enduring, as we have seen, 
such a series of hardship as few men have ever 
gone through, he ihought proper to remind the 
churches to which he wrote of what he had suf- 
fered, that they might not be surprised, or discou- 
raged, if they met with no better treatment in this 
world than he had met with. 

To the Ephesians he says, Ch. III. 13. " Where- 
fore 



OF CHARACTER, 



99 



u fore t desire that ye faint not at my tribulation 
" for you, which is your glory ;" intimating that 
so far from being discouraged, or ashamed, tiiey 
ought to be proud of these proofs of his affection 
for them, and of his zeal in the common cause. 

To the Colossians he says, to the same purpose, 
Ch. L 24. " I rejoice in my sufferings for you, 
" and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions 
44 of Christ in my flesh, for his body's sake, which 
u is "the church," As if a certain portion of suf- 
fering had been necessary to establish Christiani- 
ty and as if that of Christ had not been sufiicient, 
he took the remainder upon himself. The same 
idea occurs, though not so distinctly, in his epistle 
to the Galatians, written long before this. Ga]. 
II. 20. " I am crucified with Christ ; nevertheless 
44 I live ; yet not I, but Christ iiveth in me, Where- 
" fore let no man trouble me, for I bear in my 
" body the marks of the Lord Jesus." VI. 17. 

The christians at Philippi had suffered .much. 
Writing to them from Rome, he expresses the 
greatest indifference and contempt of all that could 
befalhim. " In nothing," he says. (Ch. 1.20.) 
44 shall I be ashamed, but that with ait boldness, 
44 as always, so now also, Christ shall be magnified 
i4 in my body, whether it be by life or by death. 

G 2. " I have 



100 ' OX THE' CHANGE 

u I bfcve learned,-* he says, (IV. 11.) " in what- 
i( ever state lam, therewith to be content. I know 
( ' both how to be abased, and how to abound. E- 
>u very where, and in all things, I am instructed 
* 1 both to be full and to be hungry, both to a- 
" bound and to suffer need. I can do all things 
ic through Christ who strengthens me." 

The general sentiment of the duty of patience 
and fortitude under the evils of life may, no doubt, 
be found in the writing of Marcus Antoninus, Se- 
neca, and other heathens ; but the feelings they 
convey are very different, quite feeble and ineffica- 
cious. The heathens could not have the same 
motives to patience and fortitude. Those of chris- 
tians are infinitely more efficacious, and far more 
natural, as they are taught to- look beyond them to 
objects which in similar cases do not fail to enable 
men to bear hardships of any kind, viz. to a cer- 
tain advantage accruing from them, and to which 
they are necessary. If the christian suffer here, 
especially in the cause of virtue and truth, he is 
taught to expect a certain recompence in a future 
state. Compared with this, the patience and forti- 
tude of heathens, especially in the near view of 
death, cannot be much more than mere obstinacy, 
arising from the consideration of the necessity of 

bearing 



Or CHARACTER, &X, 101 

bearing what they cannot avoid ; and therefore of 
the folly of complaining where it cannot answer 
any good end. 

Let the writings of the Stoics on this subject be 
compared with those of the apostles, and the dif- 
ference must be striking. In the sufferings of 
christians we see there is a source of joy. Paul 
speaks of rejoicing in tribulation, but for this the 
Stoic could not have any motive. The apostles 
did not deny that painful sufferings were evils. 
They acknowledge that they were not in them- 
selves joyous but grievous, but they worked out for 
them a far more exceeding, even an eternal weight 
of glory. According to the apostles, it is o\\)y for 
a time, and if need be, that we are to be in sorrovj 
through dhers trials, and to die end of this time 
t!*ey were well able to look, and, like their master, 
for the joy that was set before them, they endure;! 
every affliction, and even the pains of death itself. 

Let us now hear Marcus Antoninus on the sub- 
ject of the fear of death, to which he frequently ad- 
verts in his Meditations, and from which we may 
infer that it was much upon his mind. After enu- 
merating the duties of life, which he says ' every 
" man is under obligation to discharge," he says, 
G 3. (II. 17.) 



102 



ON THE CHANGE 



(II. 17.) "he must expect death with a benevef- 
44 lent and calm mind, as a dissolution of those 
" elements of which every animal consists. And 
44 if nothing uncommon happen to these elements, 
44 and they be only changed as all elements conti- 
44 nually are, into others, why should we dread 
44 the event, orh>e disturbed at that change and dis- 
solution which is the lot of all. For it is ac- 
cording to nature, and nothing that is natural is 
44 an evil," 

How poor is the consolation which this lan- 
guage holds out compared with that of the apos- 
tles, which have now been recited. His reasoning 
about the indifference with which we should regard 
the duration of life is as unsatifactory ; and indeed 
manifestly absurd, if life be of any value. " If any 
u of the gods," he says, (IV. 47.) 44 should tell 
44 you that you should die either to-morrow, or 
44 the day following, you would not be disturbed 
44 at it ; unless you w ere of a very cowardly and 
44 abject disposition. The difference between to- 
44 morrow and the day following is indeed a trifle ; 
44 but for the same reason you should not make any 
44 account of the difference if it should be either to- 
44 morrow, or a thousand years hence." I doubt 

not, 



OF CHARACTER, 103 

mot, however, but that if the emperor himself 
had the choice of dying either after one more day 
of life, or of living, I do not say, a thousand years, 
but to the usual time of human life, he would not 
have hesitated to show, by his actual choice of the 
latter, that he thought it was not a matter of so 
much indifference as in his writings he repre- 
sentsit. 

How thankful, then, should we be for the gos- 
pel, which gives us such an unspeakable advan- 
tage over the most enlightened of the heathens with 
respect to what must interest all men the most, the 
troubles of life, and the fear of death. Under these 
the heathens could at the best only acquiesce, as in 
things that were unavoidable ; and being, as An- 
toninus says, agreeable to nature, must be the best 
with respect to the whole systems ; but not lor 
them in particular. They had nothing to look to 
beyond the business and the troubles of this lile, 
and no hope at all after death. And their argu- 
ments for patiently acquiescing under the evils of 
life, and in the view of death, would never h ue 
any weight with the bulk of mankind, and whate- 
ver they might pretend, could only be affected by 
the philosophers themselves. Whatever they 
niight teach, or write, they must hsLve fett like other 
G 4 . men 



104 



ON THE CHANCE 



xrJtn in the same circumstances, having 'r,& mor§- 
expectation of surviving death, or ever seeing any 
beteer state of things, than other men. 

Being then through the goodness of God pos- 
sessed of this superior knowledge, this treasure so 
long hidden from the greatest part of the world, 
this pearl of great price, let us value it in proporti- 
on to its real worth, converting this knowledge into 
useful feelings and practice, by living agreeably 
to the light with which we are favoured. Other- 
wise, it would have been better for us to have con- 
tinued ignorant heathens, as we should then have 
had less to answer for ; and woe will be to those who 
when this light is come into the world shew by their 
conduct that they love darkness better than light 
because their deeds are evil. To our christian 
knowledge, let us, with the apostle, add all the 
proper virtues of the christian life. These exceed- 
ing great and precious promises are given to us, 
that, as the apostle Peter says, we may thereby be- 
cojne partakers of a divine nature, having escaped the 
corruptions that are in the world. Giving all dili- 
gence, as he exhorts, let us add to our faith virtue, 
and to virtue knowledge, to knowledge temperance - } 
to temperance patience, to patience godliness, to god- 
ftncss brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness 

universal 



OF CHARACTER, &C. 



103 



universal charity. If these things as he says, be in 
us and abound, we shall not be unfruitful in the 
knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

Let us then, my christian brethren, give dili- 
gence to make our calling and election sure, .; for, as 
the same apostle adds, if we do these things %ve shall 
never fail ; for so on entrance will be administered 
unto us abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of 
mtr Lord Jesus Christ, 



106 

ON THE 

NECESSITY OF 
SELF-EXAMINATION. 



What do ye more than others ? 

.Matt.- V. 27. 

The discourse of our Lord of which these 
words make a part was addressed to his first fol - 
lowers, and especially those who were afterwards 
Apostles, and preachers of the gospel. In it he ex- 
plains what was their proper character, their stati- 
on, and their duty ; setting them in as striking a 
light as possible. Ye> says he, are the salt of the 
earth, the light of the world, and a city set upon a 
hill. They were to be the public instructors of 
mankind, embassadors as it were from God, sent 
bv him for the great purpose of persuading a sinful 
world to abandon their vices, and sinful customs, 
and to devote themselves to a life of virtue, with a 
view to a happy immortality. 

Of 



ON THE NECESSITY, &C. 



107 



Of such persons it was justly expected that they 
should be examples to others, that their lives 
might illustrate their doctrine. As they were 
supposed to know, vlvA pretend to more than other*, 
so it would be reasonably expected that they 
should do more than others ; .and in what respects 
our Lord's disciples should chiefly endeavour to 
outdo others, he particularly informs them ; and 
the instances that he mentions are indeed most 
worthy of our ambition. Thus to strive who shall 
carry the generous virtues of benevolence, forgive- 
ness of injuries, and the desire to live useful lives, 
to the greatest height. 

Tou have heard, says he, that it has been said, 
thou shah love thy neighbour, and hate thine ene~ 
my ; but I say unto you, love your enemies, bless 
them that curse you, do good to them that hate yoi^ 
and pray for them that de spitefully use you and 
persecute you. And as an incentive to a virtue so 
seemingly above humanity, he annexes this noble 
motive, that ye may be the children of your father 
who is in heaven, who causes the sun to rise on thz 
evil and on t/ie good, and maketh his rain to descend 
on the just and on t/ie unjust. Pursuing the same 
argument, he adds, jor if ye love them that love you, 
what reward have ye ; do not even the publicans the 

same ? 



108 GST THE NECESSITY 

same; and if ye salute your brethern only, what do 
ye more than others, do not even the publicans so ? 

lastly, by way of conclusion, he repeats the -mo- 
tive above mentioned, that it might make the 
deeper impression upon the minds of his hearers, 
Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father who is 
in heaven is perfect. To act in this manner with 
such true greatness of mind, and disinterested be- 
nevolence, is to act the part that the almighty and 
infinitely benevolent maker of all things continually 
acts, it is to be as the sons of God, doing the work 
of our heavenly father. Could a nobler principle or 
a nobler cause of action be proposed to mankind or 
cou Id they be enforced by a more powerful and wor- 
thy motive. To be governed by these principles, 
and to act in this manner is to approach as near to 
the sentiments and conduct of Divinity, as is per- 
mitted to mortals. 

The words of my text, y ou may observe, stand 
in a particular connexion : Our Lord is in this 
place enforceing a general undistinguishing regard 
to all persons, whatever be their characters or of- 
fices. It is as if he had said, " if you are only 
" concerned for the welfare of your friends , per- 
" sons of the same family, nation, religion, and 

" party 



OP SELF-EXAMINATION. 



109 



44 party with yourselves, those whom you usually 
*< call brethren, where is your peculiar excellence ? 
4 4 This is no more than may be expected, and 
44 what is generally found, in the narrowest •minds. 
44 It is what even the Publicans, men of whose prirt- 
44 ciples and virtue you entertain the lowest opii-i- 
44 on, are not deficient in." Such is the meaning- of 
the words as they stand in my text ; but in dis- 
coursing from them I shall take a larger field, and 
shall consider. 

J. The superior obligation to a holy life in- 
cumbent on all well instructed christians, such as 
professedly meet for the purpose of public worship 
in this place ; and 

II. I shall more particularly address myself to 
certain descriptions of persons,- such as have en- 
joyed advantages not possessed by others, on which 
account still more is expected from them. 

Let it, however, be observed, that though I 
shall speak of some persons as under greater ob- 
ligations than others to a virtuous life and conver- 
sation, I do not suppose that any are wholly ex- 
cusable if they neglect their duty, though they be 
not so culpable as others who have more to answer 
for. No, my Brethren^ to have the gift of reason 
only, to be formed capable of knowing any thing, 

though 



110 



ON THE NECESSITY 



though but obscurely, concerning the nature, peiv 
fectious, and providence of God, is sufficient to 
lay us under indispensible obligations to serve him. 
To have a principle of conscience distinguishing 
right from wrong, applauding us for the one, and 
condemning us for the other, is to have a proper 
law within us, and to which we are obliged by the 
frame of our natures to yield obedience. If men 
have nothing more than the use of their reason and 
conscience, though in other respects they should 
lie under every possible disadvantage, it is justly 
expected of them, the great being who gave them 
those powers expects it of them, that they should 
live as becomes rational and accountable creatures, 
as sensible that they are under a law to themselves, 
and to their maker, from whom they may perceive 
that they have some reason to expect to receive a 
recompence according to their works, though they 
cannot tell when, or where, or how, In this si- 
tuation is the whole race of mankind, if they have 
the use of their reason only. We all owe obedi- 
ence to our maker, and are liable to be punished 
if we be not careful to pay it. 

From this lowest step of duty and obligation, let 
us now observe how the scale of duty and obliga- 
tion, and consequently of a capacity for happiness, 

rises. 



OF SELF-EXAMINATION. Ill 

rises. Are all who have the use of their reason, 
and the possession of their senses, under obligation 
to glorify and serve God their maker, much more 
are all those who to their natural reason have su- 
peradded to them the superior light of any revela- 
tion, though ever so obscure and imperfect. Is 
the untutored heathen under obligation to be- 
have with justice and integrity towards men, and 
with reverence towards the supreme being, of 
whom he knows so little, much more is the Jew, 
the Mahometan, and the Christian. None of these 
are left to the mere light of nature to teach them a 
knowledge of God and of their duty. They are 
all instructed from above, concerning the perfecti- 
ons and providence of God, concerning their du- 
ty here, and their expectations hereafter. All 
these expect a righteous judgment to come. They 
are also informed, and believe, that the God who 
will be their judge at last intimately inspects their 
conduct now, is a witness to the secrets of their 
hearts, and will consign them to future happiness 
or misery, and the proper portions of these, accor- 
ding to their character and conduct in life. These 
general practical truths Jews, Mahometans, and 
Christians, are all acquainted with ; and therefore 
the least enlightened of these are justly expected to 

walk 



112 



ON THE tfECf.SSITY 



walk better than the Gentiles walk, to do more for 
Go3, and mankind, than they. 

But my Brethren, are we not only rational be- 
ings, and enjoy the benefit of revelation in gene- 
ral, but is the revelation that we enjoy the last, and 
a id most perfect that God has made to man ? are we 
christians ? then is cur obligation to walk worthy of 
so high and so holy a calling unspeakably strong. 
Yea, well may we say with the apostle, which way 
shall we think to come off, or escape, if we be found 
to neglect so great salvation. Have we the will of 
God most clearly revealed to us, without the least 
cloud or obscurity, by persons commissioned from 
God for that very purpose, who wrought the most 
stupendous miracles Jn proof of their divine missi- 
on? More especially, have we the instructions of 
Jesus Christ, who brought life and immortality to 
light? who was sent for the express purpose of 
teaching with the greatest clearness and authority, 
and likewise of exemplifying in Jus own person, 
that most important of all doctrines, a. resurrection 
to immortal life ; dying in the most public manner, 
and rising from the dead in such circumstances as 
that no historical fact was ever more strongjy at- 
tested ; were his disciples particularly commissi- 
oned to teach this religion to all nations (since God 

the 



Of SELF-EXAMINATION. 



US 



the father of all is no respecter of persons) and have 
we fewer rites and ceremonies to attend to in our 
worship of this one true and living God, whom as 
being a spirit we are taught to worship in spirit and 
truth ? In all these important respects have we so 
much the advantage of Jews, and does not God and 
the world expect from us a more pure and rational 
worship, a more disinterested and unconfined be- 
nevolence, and a greater weanedness from the 
world, inconsequence of having our views more 
directly pointed to another ; so that we can only 
consider ourselves as strangers and pilgrims fyere 
below. 

The religion of Christ lays us under obligation 
to live as he did, to resemble him in the temper 
of our minds, and the course of our conduct, which 
is as the apostle says, n&t to be conformed to this 
worlds but to be transformed, by the renewing of our 
m'mds, setting our affections on things above, where 
Christ now is at the right hand of God. Ye are 
my friends says our master, if ye do whatsoever I 
command you. To obey his commands, and to co- 
py after his example, is to confess him before men, 
and such only as confess him in this manner, will 
he confess, and acknowledge to be his, before his 
H. heavenly 



114 ' ON THE NECESSITY 



heavenly father, and the holy, angels, at the last 
clay. 

The virtue and the piety we observe in many 
Jews, and even Mahometans, ought to shame us 
who are christians. They have not near so many 
advantages as we are possessed of, and yet, with 
all their disadvantages, many of them, I fear, will 
rise up to our shame and confusion of face at the 
test day, when they will be justified, and we con- 
demned. Let their firm faith, and indefatigable 
zeal, excite our emulation. What in them is im- 
perfect, let us supply; what in them is good, let 
us exceed ; and let it not be said that the devotion 
or benevolence of any disciple of Jesus, fell short 
of that of a scholar of Moses, or of Mahomet. 

Lastly, is the Christianity that we profess of the 
purest kind ; are we protestants, is our worship 
free from those superstitious ceremonies with 
which the church of Rome has unnaturally load- 
ed it, and many of which still remain in the parti, 
ally reformed church of England ? Are we 
taught not to lay that undue stress upon external 
acts, such as baptism, confirmation, and absoluti- 
on, which their established faith either positively 
enjoins, or gives too much encouragement to do ? 

Arc 



Of SELF-EXAMINATION'. 



115 



Are we trained up in the sound belief that nothing 
but a good heart and an exemplary life are pleasing 
to Almighty God, and will recommend us to his 
favour and acceptance ? Is this our faith ? permit 
me to say, that so pure and spiritual a profession 
lays us under obligations to live lives in the high- 
est degree pure and spiritual, worthy of a pure 
and undefiled religion. 

The end of ail knoivhrfj? is practice, and it 
would ill become us to shew the zeal that we do 
by forming ourselves into separate societies, and 
being at the expence of supporting them, bv which 
we hold out to the world our idea of their impor- 
tance, if we thought they were merely matters of 
speculation, and had no connection with moral 
duty. If we contend for such great doctrines as 
those of the unity of God, and the equity of his 
moral government, against those who infringe up- 
on them, by teaching that there are three persons 
intitledto the same rank of God, equally objects of 
religious worship ; If we believe that the favour 
of Almighty God is not purchased by thesufferings 
or merits of another for us, and that, independent- 
ly of a regard to their future character, no particu- 
lar individual of our race is predestinated to enjoy 
his favour to the exclusion of others, we see in the 
II 2. strongest 



116 



ON THE NECESSITY 



strongest light the importance of giving this one 
God our undivided homage, and putting our in- 
tire confidence in him. 

If we hold that men do not become the children 
of God in consequence of any miraculous new 
birth, depending on nothing but the arbitrary will 
of God, which he may impart at any time, even 
at the last moment of life, but are sensible that a 
character acceptable to God is formed as other 
parts of a character are formed, by early habits, 
and continued practice, which necessarily require 
time, we certainly see in a stronger light than ci- 
thers do the great importance of personal holiness, 
and the necessity of personal exertion, and therefore 
it may be the more expected from us that we be 
up, and doing, working out our Salvation with fear 
and trembling, knowing that with the ordinary fa- 
vour of divine providence, our success with re* 
spect to the blessings of another life depends upon 
ourselves, just as much as the provision that we 
make for the things of this life. We equally owe 
all both to God, and to ourselves, at the same 
time. 

Let our lives, my brethren, be as pure, as our 
sentiments, equally worthy of God and of Christ, 
and we shall be indeed the light of the world, the 

salt 



07 SELF-EXAMINATION. 



117 



salt of the earth, and a city that is set upon a JiilL 
Others will be won upon by our conversation and 
ghe glory to God our father in heaven. For such 
is the natural effect of an example truly great and 
illustrious, of lives and characters truly pious and 
benevolent, on such minds and tempers as the 
World is composed of. For many who are in a de- 
gree lost to a sense of virtue in themselves, can 
yet discern and admire it in others ; and every sen- 
timent of admiration and esteem tends to engage 
imitation, and will have a certain effect, though it's 
full influence may be prevented by a variety of fo- 
reign circumstances. 

Let us then my brethren, seriously put the ques- 
tion iri my text to ourselves. Do we enjov the 
benefit of revelation, are we christians, are we pro- 
testants, and as we necessarily flatter ourselves, of 
the most enlightened kind u ? what do we more titan 
others ? In the face of the world we pretend to b*e 
and to do something more. Why else do we se- 
parate ourselves from the heathen world, from the 
church of Rome, and from the church of England. 
The avowed reason why we cannot join in their 
worship, is because we do not think it to be suffi- 
ently pure* It is on account of the corruptions 
H 3. which 



IIS 



CN THE NECELSITV 



which we justly say arc among them, and which 
certainly debase the pure doctrine of the gospel, 
We also think that, besides a regard to truth and 
right, which ought always to bind the conscien- 
ces, and direct the conduct of men, we think that 
the received tenets of other churches do in some 
measure give encouragement to vice, by laying an 
undue stress on something else than pure virtue. 
It is on these accounts, if we be protestants, and 
dissenters on principle, that we dissent from the 
church of Rome, and all other civil establishments 
of religion in the world; and since these are our 
public professions, must not something extraordi- 
nary be expected from us ? This will certainly be 
the case. The expectation is just, and we ought 
to answer it. 

Let us not be ashamed of our good confession, 
I trust we are bearing a public testimony in favour 
of the purity of the worship of the one true God, 
amidst a corrupt and idolatrous generation. The 
Christianity that we profess we have good reason to 
believe (and we are at any time able to produce 
and maintain those reasons) is much more like that 
pure and holy religion which the apostles preached 
under that name, than what is held by those from 
whom we dissent. The cause we are engaged in 

may 



OF SELF-EXAMI,NATI£>tf. 119 

may therefore with propriety be termed the cause 
of God and of truth, a cause we otigltf never to a- 
bandon from any views respecting this world, such 
as fear, interest, or fashion. But be it our care to 
walk worthy of so pure a profession, and * live as 
God and the world may reasonably expect that ra- 
tional christians should live; and then whatever 
may be said of us by those who are ignorant of 
our principles and couduct, we shall Have the tes- 
timony of all reasonable and well informed men, 
and what is more satisfactory still, that of our own 
consciences, that in simplicity and godly sincerity 
we have our conversation in the wer/d. And as we 
have joined ourselves to the purest church of 
Christ on earth, and lived suitably to it, we shall 
hereafter make part of that truly Catholic church 
which will be gathered from all nations, kindreds, 
tonguesy and people, complete in Christ k y s head ; 
when we shall join in a still more pure and spirit- 
ual worship of God than our imre/fect state, our 
imperfect knowledge, and apprehension oTtKings, 
will admit of at present, more to the glory of God, 
and our own satisfaction and improvement. 

I reserve the time that remains to speak to a 
few particular cases, in which the scale of privi- 
leges, or moral advantages, rises still higher ; so 
H 4. that 



120 ©ft THE NECE&SltY 

that more may be ekpected from those who are 
possessed of them, than from christians, in gene- 
ral;. 

In the ftrst place, I will direct my discourse to 
such who have enjoyed the great privilege of reli- 
gious education, as have been trained up by their 
pious parents in the fear of God, and the practice 
of virtue, from their earliest years. What*, I ask> 
do more than others? What do you more than 
those who have had the misfortune to be born and 
educated if it can be called education^ by wicked 
parents who were taught to curse and to swear be* 
fore they could speak plain, who were encouraged 
in thieving and other arts of dishonesty, as soon 
as they were capable of practicing any thing, and 
who learned nothing more early than to make a 
mock of all religion and even sobriety ; and many 
such, to our shame, be it spoken, there are in ail 
countries, and especially in great towns and ci* 
ties, who are training up to infamy, in this w r orld* 
and to a state of more dreadful punishment in the 
next. 

On the contrary, your conscientious parents took 
pains to make you sensible*, as soon as you could 
be made sensible of any thing, of the great duties 
that you owe to God, and to man, of your proper 

conduct 



or s e l r * e x. a m i K a t i o k » 121 

conduct in this life, and your expectations in ano- 
ther. You were made acquainted with a heaven 
and a hell as soon as you could understand any 
thing at all, or know what the words meant. You 
were properly Qorrectcd if any thing in your be- 
haviour escaped you that was in the least unbe- 
coming religion and good morals; and what te 
perhaps the greatest advantage of all, you had con- 
stantly before your eyes a pattern of goodness, and 
of every thing praise worthy, in the temper anil 
behaviour of your affectionate parents, who wish- 
ed to see you happy in this world and in the way 
of being still more happy, together with them- 
selves, in the world to come. 

Like Timothy you were from your childhood 
brought acquainted with the scriptures, which are 
ftble to make you wise unto salvation, and had 
other good books put into your hands, and proper 
directions for reading them. When you eiiter&d 
into life, after being accustomed to habits of sobri- 
ety and industry under the eye, and by the exam- 
ple, of your parents, you had the most earnest 
and salutary cautions and instructions given you* 
about your behaviour in it. You were particular- 
ly warned of the danger of bad in snaring company, 
and whatever might be hurtful to your morals, or 
II 5. take 



122 



ON THE NECESSITY 



take off that sense of religion with which they had 
been careful to impress you, and were taught to 
associate yourselves with the virtuous and well 
disposed wherever you came, and such were the 
companions they chose for you while you were 
under their more immediate direction. 

These, my brethren, are valuable privileges in- 
deed, and many who now hear me have no doubt 
enjoyed them. Let me then ask you, but do you 
more especially ask yourselves, what do ye more 
than others ? Are you as strictly pious and con- 
scientious, and are your lives as useful and exem- 
plary, as the world may justly expect from these 
advantages ? 

If, notwithstanding all this care and pains be- 
stowed upon you, you turn out profligate, and 
utter strangers to the power of religion ; or if you 
be only careless and thoughtless about your duty 
and a future state; If, notwithstanding all the 
care that has been taken of your education^ you 
be as much addicted to sensuality, as worldly 
minded, and as indifferent about religion, as too 
many are, you must be hardened and abandoned 
indeed, such as nothing can work upon; and to 
whom those awful words of scripture will be ap- 
plicable* 



OP SELF-EXAMINATION 



123 



plicable. The earth which drinketh in the. rain 
that cometh oft upon it and bringeth forth fruit, 
meet for them by 'whom it is dressed recehcth . bles- 
sing from God ; but that which beareth thorns and 
briars is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing \ whose 
end is to be burned. 

You , therefore, who have had the benefit of a 
virtuous and pious education, disappoint not the 
just expectations of j r our friends and of the world. 
Be your parent's joy here, and their crown of re- 
joicing hereafter. It will greatly add to their 
happiness, even in heaven, to find that their off- 
spring, trained up by themselves, have followed 
them in the road to glory, honour and immortal!? [y 

Let me, in the next place, address myself to 
those who have been tried by long and sharp afflic- 
tions, pain of body, or distress of mind. You 
have been long in the school of wisdom, and of vir- 
tue. What have you learned ? you have seen and 
experienced much of the vanity of the world, and 
of its insufficiency to make you happy. You have 
been abundantly convinced, that there is no rest or 
portion for immortal beings as you are. You 
have seen how uncertain and precarious are ail 
the things of this world. Are you then more 
weaned from it, and are your affections more set 

upon 



224 



0$ THE NECESSITY 



Upon heaven and heavenly things ; or are you still 
as apt to be delighted with the follies and vanities 
ef it as others are, who have seen only the fair and 
delusive side of things ? you perhaps have had 
near views of death, and of the u nseen world. Arc 
your minds properly impressed with the considera- 
tion of them, and with the importance of being at 
all times ready to receive your summons from this 
world to another ? 

By long sickness, you have been taught the va- 
lue of health. Are you then more careful to im- 
prove it? you have seen that what many trust to, 
viz. a death bed repentance, is not to be depended 
upon. You have found that a body full of pain, 
and a mind necessarily attentive to the feelings of 
the body, are very unfit for such an important 
work. Are you then more careful to secure the 
good part in time ; that whenever you come to 
die, the great business of life may be done, and 
you may have nothing to do but to die ? 

Your faith, your patience, and your fortitude, 
have been more particularly tried. Are you more 
perfect in the exercise of them ? Are you more 
resigned to the will of God, more humble, more 
submissive, more thankful for the mixture of good 
which you will certainly find to accompany all e- 

vils ; 



OF 3 £ L F- £ X A MI JT A T I O N . 



125 



vils ; and do you feel more compassion for others 
who arc in a similar state of affliction, than for those 
who have not been so tried and disciplined ? 

In short, can you say with David, before I \oas 
afflicted I ivent astray, but ?iow I have learned * 
keep thy righteous testimonies. For sickness, or af- 
flictions of any other kind, no less than health and 
prosperity, are things for which God will call us 
to account. Whatever we may think of them, 
they are talents, put into our hands, to be valued, 
and improved, for the greatest purposes ; and if 
we be barren and unfruitful under those dispensa- 
tions of providence, we shall be justly punished for 
having neglected, and abused, the best opportunity 
that God affords any of the sons of men of attend- 
ing to the things that relate to their everlasting 
peace and welfare. 

Active service is not indeed expected from vou, 
whose afflictions and infirmities evidently unfit 
ybu for it. God, who knows your frame and situ- 
ation, will not expect it. In this respect, there- 
fore, you will be excused if you do even less than 
others. But then it is expected that you should 
shine in the exercise of the passive virtues as they 
are called, in patience, in humility, in self-denial, 
and in mortification to the world, as also in sym- 
pathy 



126 



ON THE NECESSITY 



pathy with others in benevolence and charityv. This 
is your province, and in these respects it is justly- 
required that you do more than others, whose 
health and prosperity has not given them the same 
opportunity for the exercise of those particular 
virtues. And if in these respects you do excel 
others, remember for your consolation, the words 
of the apostle. That these light afflictions, which 
are but for a moment, will work out for you a far 
more exceeding, even an eternal weight of glory. 

I might in like manner address other classes of 
persons, who are possessed of singular advantages 
for virtue and usefulness, especially those whose 
more ample fortunes, better understandings, sif|)e- 
rior knowledge, or peculiar situations, give them 
the power of doing more than others. If these 
things be of the nature of favours, as certainly they 
are,, because they are the means of adding to our 
own happiness, as w r ell as that of others, a princi- 
ple of gratitude to the giver of all good should lead 
' them to be thankful for them, and to improve 
them. And we should ever remember, that no- 
thing is given us for our own sakes alone. In all- 
these respects, we are but stewards of the grace 
and goodness of God, and should be faithful to the 
trust committed to us, as we shall certainly be 

called 



OF SELF-EXAMINATION. 



127 



called to give an account of it- But these obliga- 
tions are so obvious, that they are perfectly intelli- 
gible to all persons, and therefore require no illus- 
tration. 

Let all those persons who tire possessed of what- 
ever themselves and the world consider as advan- 
tages, ask themselves, what they do more than o- 
thers, who are destitute of them. Better, my 
brethren, infinitely better were it to be poor, than 
to be rich and not generous ; to be fools, than to 
be knaves •; and to have been taught nothing at all 
than to make a bad use of superior knowledge. 
It would have been better for us never to have 
heard cf Christ than to be Cliristians in name on- 
ly, and not in deed and in truth. 



ON 



128 



ON 

HAVING OUR CONVERSATION 

m 

' HEAVEN. 



For our Conversation is in Heaven* 

Phul. in. 2(h 

Xf any person would act Sn a manner becoming 
his station, whatever it may be, he must frequent- 
ly consider the nature, and the object of it ; that he 
may the better judge what course of conduct is 
most suitable to it. Without frequent reflections 
of this kind, men are apt to forget themselves, to 
act out of character, and to fall into habits of doing 
things inconsistent with their place and profes- 
sion. 

The apostle Paul, in my Text, exhorting the 
church at Philippi to avoid the disorderly and 
scandalous life which some nominal christians at 
that time led, reminds them of the nature of their 

profession t 



ON HAVING, &C. -139 

fm&zssson, and of die obligation which it necessa- 
rily laid them under to a sober life and conversati- 
on. Brethren, says he, V. 1 7. be ye , followers to- 
gerlierwithme, and mark them which walk sd as ye 
home us^ for an example : for many walk, of whom I 
/iave told you often, and now tell you even weeping, 
iliat they- are enemies of the cross of Christ, whose 
end is destruction, whese God is their belly, and 
whase.glory.is their shame, who mind earthly things. 
£or our confer sation is m heaven y.whe^fie aha we. 
boll for the Saviour the Lord Jesus Christ, 
. Observe, what stress .the apostle lays upon the 
proper character, and the consequent -necessary 
profession of a christian. It is to ham our conver- 
sation, m heaven, whereas those persons*, whose h\ 
regularities he is pointing out to then*, minded 
earthly things, a conduct, as he intimates, utterly 
inconsistent with: their, profession as christians, so 
Jhat.he scruples not to call Them the enemies cfth? 
eross of Christ: And indeed in not complying 
with, the main end and dtsign of Christianity, 
which, without all dispute, was to reform men'-s 
conduct, and^to teach them to lead righteous and 
sober lives, they contradicted the whole scheme, 
and took the. most effectual- method -to bring i t into 
ifecred^r acd; contempt, with the. Gentile v;orld, 



130 



ON HAVING 



who from seeing the immoralities of christians, 
would 'naturally conclude, that Christianity was 
not the thing that it was pretended to be ; and that 
the apostles, under the specious pretence of re- 
forming the world, were imposing upon it a religi- 
on, which, after all, left men as wicked and aban- 
doned as it found them. With these men, there- 
fore the apostle justly disclaims all connection \ 
not considering them as the friends, but the ene- 
mies of Christianity ; and in order to prevent other 
professing christians from following their exam- 
ple, and sharing their unhappy fate, he here expos- 
tulates with those to whom he writes on the in- 
consistency there was between the disposition that 
theee apostles shewed, and the genuine temper of 
Christianity. 

" The character of these abandoned professors the 
apostle sums up in one word, when he says, they 
minded earthly things. This world, and the things 
of it, were their chief pursuit. The riches, the 
pleasures, or the honours of the world, engrossed 
all their au ctions, desires, and expectations. They 
were not solicitous about any thing else, being 
without any thought about a future world, or su- 
perior happiness ; whereas the 1 proper hopes of 
christians are necessarily in another life, with 

which 



QUR CONVERSATION, &C. 131 

which their religion brings them acquainted. As 
the apostle elsewhere says, if i n this life only 
we have hope we are of all men the most miserable ; 
being disappointed in our principal object and 
pursuit. 

It is in heaven, my brethren, that the true chris- 
tian expects his reward. He is so fully persuad- 
ed of the reality, and the superior excellence, of 
the happiness of that stale, consisting in the per- 
fection of his rational nature, m all virtuous ea? 
joyments, and in the favour of Almighty God, 
that nothing else can finally satisfy him. He Is 
so much interested in heaven, and heavenly things, 
and has Jhis mind so constantly employed about 
them, that he hardly considers himself as related 

t!ww > f?i *j'A "-*•-* * 

to this world, but rather as a citizen of heaven, 
and only a stranger and sojourner here be- 
low. And this is, indeed, the proper meaning 
of the phrase having our conversation in heaven ; 
for in the original it is having our citizenship 
in heaven^ implying that heaven is the place io 
which a christian of right belongs. He is be- 
come a subject of that state, his dependence is 
intirely upon it, his treasure is lodged in it, and lis; 
is therefore chiefly concerned about it. 

Every person, therefore, when he embraces 
I % Ohmtkn,- 



O'Jff HAVING 



Christianity, in effect renounces the w v orid-, with all 
the affections, lus&, and vanities of k. He enters 
his name as a citizen of another place ; and 1 if he 
be a true christian, he will sooner yield up his life 
to the rage of persecution, than renounce his inter- 
est in his own proper country* Nothing here be* 
low, not even life itself, is so dear to him, as that 
lie would not readily part w ith it, rather than for- 
feit his title to an inheritance which he thinks to be 
infinitely more valuable than any earthly possessi- 
on, either, says the apostle, do I account my 
life dear to me, so that I might finish my course 
with joy, that is, that I might live and die a chris- 
tian, and enjoy the noble rewards of Christianity. 

These hints I propose, in discoursing upon 
these words, to enlarge upon* by considering, in 
the first place, on what account it is that christians 
have their citizenship in heaven, and then make 
some inferences, for the application of this doc- 
trine. 

L In the first place christians may be said to 
have their citizenship in heaven, and not to be of 
this world, because their Lord and master was not 
of it. It is evident from the whole of our Lord's 
history, from his discourses, and from his conduct, 
that he was a person who absolutely renounced all 

the 



OUK CONVERSATION, 1$3 

the pleasures and profits of this world. For 
though it was in his power to have enjoyed all 
.these things, in the greatest abundance and perfec- 
tion, he chose to pass through life in comparative- 
ly indigent circumstances. When he might have 
supplied himself with every convenincc of life, he 
was content frequently to want the very necessa- 
ries of k. For, as he himself said, the foxes had 
holes ; and t lie birds of t lie * air had nests. when the 
mi of man had not where to lay his iiead* When 
he might have made himself acceptable to the rich 
and great, and his society was courted by some 
persons of rank and distinction, he declined their 
acquaintance, and for wise and benevolent purpo- 
ses, rather chose the company of some of the low* 
est of mankind ; insomuch that his enemies tak- 
ing a malicious advantage of this circumstance, 
ealled him a friend of publicans and sinners. 

Thus lived our Lord and master, as the prophet 
says, despised and rejected of men, a, man of sorrow $ 
and acquainted with grief; and his death was a-, 
greeabie to the tenor of his life. He might have 
prayed to his Father, who, as he said, would have 
sent legions of angels* to rescue him from the 
hands of his inveterate and bloody persecutors ; 
but he chose rather to submit to all the cruelties 

I 3, and 



134 



ON HAVING 



and indignities which their implacable malice 
made him undergo, till his hour was come, when 
he ended a laborious life with a painful and igno- 
minious death upon the cross, 

Is not this life and character agreeable to his 
own declaration, that his kingdom was not of this 
worlds None of this world's goods, nothing that 
we short sighted creatures are so passionately fond 
of, and that we pursue with so much eagerness 
and constancy, was at all the object of his choice 
or pursuit, and notwithstanding his tempter exhi- 
bited them to him, in all their charms and glory, 
he saw nothing in them so desirable as the execu- 
tion of the important, though painful, mission on 
which he was sent. He had much greater expec- 
tations, and for the hope that was set before him 
endured the cross, despising the shame, and is now 
set down at the right hand of God; Angels, princi- 
palities and powers ) being on that account made sub- 
ject to him. 

Such, my brethren, was the life and uniform 
character of Christ, and such should ours also be, 
in all respects, if we be christians. For what is it 
to be a christian, in the most obvious sense of the 
word, but to be a follower of Christ; to have the 
same views and designs, arising from the same 

inward 



OUR CONVERSATION, &C, 135 

inward temper of mind, the same expectations, 
and the same hopes, so as to be ready to take part 
with him in all that he met with. For u we have 
quite other dispositions of mind, and other pur- 
Suits, how can we pretend to be followers of him . 
It would be as if in travelling, we should profess 
to follow some particular guide, and yet should 
chuse a contrary road to that which he took. # By 
such conduct as this we could not expect to arrive 
at the same place. In like manner, if we be not 
followers of Christ in diis world, we must not ex- 
pect to sit down with him in glory and happiness 
hereafter. If we deny him, he also will deny us. 

II. To be a follower, or disciple, of Christ, is 
to submit to his directions and commands. For 
to disobey the commands of Christ is to reject his 
authority ; and if we reject the authority of Cliriot 
where is our Christianity. No w hath not our Lord 
expressly said that whosoever will come after him, 
he must take up his cross and follow him ? Hath 
he not, in the most peremptory manner, forbidden 
our attachment to any thing- in this world, when it 
is in danger of interfering with our obedience to 
him % Has he not said, he thatjoveth house or land, 
father or mother, wife or friend-, more than me, is 
not worthy of me ? 

» 14. Let 



13t> 



eta hav-ikc 



Let us beware then how we set our .affections 
up on any .thing here below, and become anxious 
about any earthly enjoyment. For in so doing 
we both cease to follow the example of Christ, 
and likewise disregard his most express commands. 
Consequently, we renounce our disdpleship, to 
trim fr and tlfat happiness w hich is reserved for his 
proper disciples and followers in a future state 
For with what justice can we plead to share with 
him the honour and the happiness to which he 
is advanced, if we both reject his authority, and 
are unwilling to share with him in the difficulties 
and trials through which he passed to attain them* 
It is> therefore, only a chearful submission to the 
authority of Christ, and a conformity of our lives 
and tempers to his,, that can give us a tide to the 
happiness of heaven, or in the language of mj 
text, q right of citizenship thgre. 

Ill, Christians have their citizenship in hea- 
ven, and are not properly of this world, because it 
is implied in the very nature of their christian pro- 
fession ; and the more attention we give to it, the 
more sensible we shall be how inconsistent it is 
ivith our principal attachment being to this World, 
and the things of it. For only consider what 
Christianity, wijat vyas the design ©f Christ being 

sent 



OUR CONVERSATION, &X. Ij7 

sent into the world, by his God and father, and of 
Jiis sending the apostles into the world. Was it 
not to reform and to amend it ? Was it not, in the 
language of the apostle, to teach men to deny all 
ungodliness, and worldly lusts, and to Hire righteous, 
sober and pious lives ? Was it not, as the same 
apostle says, to teach us to mortify our members 
thai are of the earth, that is, to subdue our lust of 
sensual pleasure, to check all worldly ambition, 
to teach us to disregard wealth and splendour, and 
to cure us of all envy and malice ? Was it not la 
short to check and mortify alt those inordinate af- 
fections and passions which have tllis world, fell 
the things of it, for their object and end ? 

Do not the plainest rules of the gospel engage 
us to deny ourselves, and to forego many pleasures 
and advantages of this world because they cannot 
be enjoyed with a good conscience, and is it not 
manifest from aH this, that it could not be the de- 
sign of Christianity to qualify men for the enjoy- 
ment of this world chiefly ; since it is rather calcu- 
feted to wean our affections from it ? For if we be 
allowed to have no pride, no ambition, no -sensu- 
ality, no malice, or revenge, how can our chief 
happiness consist in this world ; since it is in the 
gratification of these passions chiefly that -the hnp- 
} 5. piness 



138 



QH HAVING 



piness of the worldly mhided consists. What are 
the precepts of Christianity, but rules of sob'^-y, 
humility, justice, benevolence, and piety ; affecti- 
ons the most disinterested and heavenly,- in which 
consists the: perfection of human nature, and our 
preparation for another and a better state. 

Now since Christianity tends to make us indif- 
ferent about those things which the worldly mind- 
ed pursue with so much eagerness and constancy, 
and since it raises our affections towards nobler 
and remote objects ; it is evident that Christ, by 
teaching his disciples this temper and disposition, 
did not design that their happiness should consist 
in the enjoyment of this world. The very nature 
of tiieir institution, demonstrates that they are in- 
tended for another and better country. Their re- 
ligion, raises their hopes and expectations of some- 
thing better than any thing that this world affords, 
and actually forms them for it; and our Lord will 
not disappoint the expectations which he has rais- 
ed in their minds, or refuse them that high sphere 
of action and enjoyment, for which, by obeying his 
commands, and following his example, they are 
actually trained. 

Upon the whole then, we see that it properly be- 
longs to a Christian to be constantly looking above 

and 



OUR CONVERSATION^ &.C. 139 

and beyond this present world. Sensible that 
comparatively speaking, he has no interest worth 
pursuing here^ he will employ his thoughts and 
meditations upon that more enduring substance 
which is reserved for him in Heaven. His proper 
treasure is no where but in heaven. There there- 
fore, is his heart, and there is his conversation , in 
the usual acceptation of the term. For where a 
man's treasure or chief happiness is, there will be 
his heart and affections, and that will be the subject 
of his daily thoughts and conversation. 

To become a Christian therefore, is in effect to 
break off our strongest attachments to this world, 
and the things of it. It is to cease to look unon 
any thing that this world affords as our chief good. 
It is as we may say, to throw up our interest here, 
and to build on a more sure and solid foundation, 
not upon the sandy foundation of worldly enjoy- 
ments, which are so apt to deceive us, but upon a 
rock which no temporary accident can shake. 

Except this be our disposition, we have no more 
than the name of Christians, nor that indeed justly, 
for a worldly minded Christian is an absurdity. 
Otherwise it would be possible to serve God and 
Mammon ; whereas the heart of man can have no 



i40 



&M HAVING 



more than one chief object ot Its desire, or one 
chief good; audit is the nature of this ehief*good> 
that which men most value atxL esteem, which ma- 
rufests their disposition, and determines their cha- 
racter. • 
. If what :we chiefly prize, what oak hearts and 
affections are t most eagerly set upon, and what we 
kre most of ail bent to obtain, be any of the plea- 
sures and advantages of this world, we forfeit all 
our title to heaven and heavenly things. For these 
things will not hold a second place in our esteem. 
But if, in consequence of looking upon this world 
as a thing thai is precarious and unsatisfactory, it 
be the most earnest wish of our hearts to secure 
the favour of God, and the happiness of heaven - r . 
if it be our chief care and concern to approve our 
hearts before him, by an uniform course of well- 
doing ; if we be careful to obey the precepts, and 
to copy the example of our Lord and master Jesus 
Christ, and if, when we are properly called to it, 
we be ready, rather than violate our conscience, to 
abandon every thing that is dear to us in life, and 
even life itself, we may then, but in no other case, 
conclude that we are Christians indeed., we have 
placed our treasure and our hearts in heaven, and 
there will be our reward at last. 

I have 



OUR CONVERSATION, &C. 141 

I have now shewn on what accounts Christians 
may be said not to belong to this- world, but to be 
citizens of heaven. It is because the kingdom of 
Christ was not of tins world, and because both his 
express precepts, and the very spirit of his. religion, 
require that our affections should be weaned from 
tkz present state, and fixed upon a future and 
a better- I now proceed to make some inferences 
from the doctrine, thus laid down and enforced* 

L TMs. doctrine may teach us the great 
value of Christianity, as it extends our views to. 
greaii and remote objects, and thereby gives us a 
superiority of mind to this world', and all the fran- 
sitory enji&yntents and pursuits of it. Great views 
"Indicate, and indeed constitute great minds ; and;: 
thus the prospects of Cliristianity, by drawing o£E 
the attention from every thing mean, baseband un- 
worthy of us, prevents their engaging our affec- 
tions, and exciting any inordinate passion. What 
charms ean sensual pleasure, worldly gain, er 
worldly ambition, have for that man whose mind 
is habitually occupied with the thoughts that he is 
born to infinitely -greater expectations, with which 
those Tower pursuits are wholly inconsistent, and 
who suffers those great, tlio' distant objects to 
"make ar suitable impression upon ham. What 

exalted 



142 



ON HAVING 



exalted characters would Christianity make us, if 
we gave, due attention to its precepts, and govern- 
ed ourselves and conduct by them ? 

II. These sentiments we should more carefully 
impress upon our minds, as we live in a time of 
rest from persecution ; so that the pleasures and 
the cares of the world have a better opportunity of 
laying hold upon us* During persecution Chris-? 
tians naturally associate together, and encourage 
one another by discoursing on Christian princi- 
ples, so that they become familiar to the mind, and. 
form the character. Whereas, when there is no. 
particular occasion for this, and the greatest part 
of our time is employed about secular affairs, and 
in conversing with the world at large, we are in. 
great danger of conforming to it, of catching; the 
spirit and the. principles of the times we live in. 
And such is the general turn of things, and suck 
the disposition and pursuits of the bulk of man- 
kind, that now, as well as formerly, to be the friend 
of the world, is to be the enemy of God. 

Considering the turn of mind that generally pre- 
vails in the world, the almost universal attachment 
to the pursuits of pleasure, honour,, or gain, which 
tend to exclude all thoughts of religion, and indis- 
pose the mind to any attention to the subject, we 

cannot 



OUR CONVERSATION, 143 

cannot wonder at the prevalence and increase of in- 
fidelity. In this state of mind something of much 
less force than a satisfactory argument, and indeed 
something veiy different from argument, will be 
sufficient to make men unbelievers- 
"' Many become so by the perversion .of particular 
passages of scripture, which by this means are ea- 
sily turned into ridicule; others by coarse jests, 
and unfounded assertions ; and others by absurd 
doctrines and practices, which too many christians 
have ignorantly adopted, and which are held forth 
as essential parts of the scheme, to which they are 
wholly -discordant, but which superficial thinkers, 
and those who secretly wish for a pretence for re- 
jecting it, will not take the pains to compare with, 
the scriptures themselves. 

III. If this doctrine be true, if christians are 
not of this world, but have their citizenship and 
conversation in heaven, if this be the object to- 
wards which their thoughts are habitually directed, 
so. that they would be ready to abandon every- 
thing in this world for the sake of their interest in 
another, what shall we say of the greater part of 
nominal christians , who in reality never look be- 
yond this world, but whose minds are wholly en- 
grossed by the things of it ? 

If 



144 



ON HAYING 



If such persons attend public worship at all, it 
is because decency, or a respect to their friends 
and connections, make it necessary or convenient 
for them. They never discover by their conver- 
sation, or in any other way, that they have any rehV 
gion at all. If they have a taste for reading, it is 
not the bible, or any book of religion that b eve*? 
found in their hands. 

Can such persona as these expect that, at the 
second coming of Christ, an event to which thej 
never voluntarily: direct their thoughts, .they wi^' 
be considered as diefriends and followers of Christ* 
They cannot have any just claim to such a dfe 
tinetion. They may be valuable characters in 
other respects, as husbands or wives, parents orv 
children, masters or servants, Sec. and therefor 
are not to be classed with the wicked; but. they 
cannot have any just title to the. proper regards a£ 
cjhristianity. 

Neither can they expect to.be treated as those 
*0io never heard of Christ, since they have treated 
with neglect, if not with contempt, a messenger 
expressly sent by God to man, with a commission? 
of the most important nature, respecting their con- 
duct here and their expectations hereafter. Be- 
sides, without this respect to futurity, and such 

great 



©UR CONVERSATION, &C. 



145 



great prospects as Christianity opens to us, it is na. 
tu rally impossible that they should attain to that no- 
ble elevation of mind, and that great dignity of cha- 
racter which is inspired by. them ; so that with 
respect to proper intellectual improvementthey must 
rank below the meanest christians, who have imbib- 
ed the genuine spirit of their religion. Having had 
the opportunity of being acquainted with the evi- 
dences of Christianity, and having had rational and 
just views of it presented to them, they are under a 
serious responsibility with respect to it ; and as 
the apostle forewarns them, they will not escape 
without punishment if they neglect so great a 
means of salvation. But with respect to them, as 
well as to all mankind, we may be assured that the 
great judge of all the earth will do that which is 
right. 

III. If Christianity have this dignity in itself, 
and this tendency to exalt the characters of men, 
no christian should be ashamed of his profession ; 
but be ready upon all occasions not only to avow 
it, but to give a reason for the hope that is in him. 
This public profession of Christianity is absolutely 
required by our religion. If we do not confess 
our Lord before men, he will not confess, but he 

K. will 



146 



ON MAYING 



will deny, us, before his heavenly Father, and the 
holy angels. 

Indeed, this open profession of Christianity is 
necessary to the successful propagation of it in the 
world-; and when men of reflection see other per- 
sons, of as good understanding as themselves, who 
have given more attention to the subject than they 
have done, and who have no apparent motive for 
professing to believe what they do not, persist in a 
serious and uniform profession of their belief of 
Christianity ; and above all when they see that their 
lives are habitually governed by the great principles 
of it, it must make them pause, and consider whe- 
ther such a faith be not well founded. And if Chris- 
tianity be true it's evidence must appear satisfacto- 
ry to all persons who, with an unprejudiced mind, 
shall examine and consider it* 

As we should not be ashamed of Christianity it- 
self, the same obligation naturally extends to- what- 
ever we deem to be pure Christianity, as opposed 
to the corruptions and abuses which have been in- 
troduced into it. All these it is our duty strenu- 
ously to oppose, regardless of whatever the defen- 
ders of them may say of us, or do to us. We 
should be ready even to rejoice that we are counted 

, worthy 



OUS CONVERSATION, &C 



147 



worthy to incur shame, to suffer loss, or even to 
lay down our lives, in so glorious a cause. 

IV. Let this doctrine more especially teach us 
moderation in all our pursuits and enjoyments here 
below. It is not our chief, or most important 
happiness, that is depending here. These are on- 
ly temporary gratifications, which we must shortly 
resign. They do not therefore deserve such ex- 
treme anxiety and solicitude. No, let those 
whose God is their belly, whose glory is their shame, 
and who mind earthly things, say, let us eat and 
drink for to-morrow we die. Let diem make die 
most of this life, because it is all their portion. But 
this, I trust, is not our case. If we be truly chris- 
tians, our treasure is in heaven, and therefore die 
object of our chief care and concern is safe, out of 
the reach of all worldly accidents ; and being satis- 
fied that this is the case, we may surely make our- 
selves easy about these temporary accommodati- 
ons, and in whatever state it shall please divine pro- 
vidence to place us, therewith to be content, and 
thankful. 

Besides, it behoves us, if we have any regard to 
the credit of our religion, and the opinion that men 
will form of our sincerity in the profession of it, to 
manifest a christian indifference towards this world 
K 2% and 



143 on" haying • 

and all the things of it. For if, to all appearance,, 
we be as anxious about -worldly pleasures, wealth, 
and honours, as other men are, and as eager in the 
pursuit of them, we give the world too much rea- 
son to.ihink that we place our happiness In them, 
as much as they do \ and that all the affection and 
regard that we profess to have for another country 
and a more enduring substance , is merely a vain pre- 
tence, when, in reality, this world has as full pos- 
session of our hearts, as it has of theirs. 

V. If our treasure, our hearts, and our conver- 
sation, be in heaven, let us more especially bear 
with patience and cheerfulness all the evils, of life. 
They are but for a time, and it is a noble consolar 
tion, that if we meet with the same treatment from 
this world that bur Lord met with from it, if we suf- 
fer on the same account, that is, in consequence of 
bearing our testimony against the errors and vices 
of it, we give the clearest proof that we are his dis- 
ciples, and then we may say, if the world h ate us, it 
jutted likewise our blessed master, and if we suffer 
with him, we shall also reign with him, andbeglori-* 
fed together. Let us then, my brethren, comfort 
one another with these words, and continue steadfast, 
and immoveable always abounding in the work of the 
Lord; as knowing that our labour shall not finally, 
be in vain in the Lord* 



149 

DOING ALL 

TO THE 

GLORY OF GOD. 



Whether therefore ye eat or drink> or whatsoever ye 
do j do all to the glory of God. Cor. X. 31. 

SlNCE all the actions of a rational creature 
ought to be directed to some end ; there should 
be something that we propose, and aim at by the 
whole course of our conduct : something to which, 
amidst all the variety of subordinate pursuits we 
are necessarily engaged in, we may from time to 
time have recourse to, as a standard, by which to 
judge of the propriety of our conduct in general, 
or any particular scene or action of our lives. To 
act at random, to follow the dictates of the present 
prevailing passion or inclination, whatever it be, 
without reflecting upon the tendency, justness, or 
measure of it, is to act in no higher a capacity 
than what the brutes are capable of. In such an 
unreflecting way of life, no use is made of reason. 

L That 



150 



That faculty from which we derive our superiority 
to the brutes, and by which we hold the rank allot- 
ted to us in the system of nature, is entirely ne- 
glected, and in effect lost. And how is it possible 
that we should live up to the purpose and design 
of human nature, without exerting that faculty 
which constitutes us men, and rational creatures ? 
How can we answer the end for which we were 
made ? And how can we arrive at that state of 
ease, satisfaction, and happiness, that no creature 
can enjoy that is not perfectly adapted to the sphere 
of life assigned to it ? which must depend upon 
the improvement and exercise of those powers' 
which arc suited to its kind, and answer to its sta- 
tion. Do we esteem any creature, that does not 
excel in what creatures of his kind are best quali- 
fied and expected to excel in ? in like manner, 
with respect to men, whatever accomplishments 
they are masters of, if they do not acquit them- 
selves as men, excel in what men are most fitted 
to excel in, fhey cannot be allowed to have any 
true merit : they are aiming at something above, 
or something below hu man natu re ; and mu st be 
losing themselves in the esteem of every being, who 
hath a full comprehension of the condition and end 
0t our nature. 

Let 



-et'dRY-er god. 



151 



Let us then, as wc wish to excel, and to be 
Jiappy in our proper excellence, set out upon these 
just maxims : to bring to perfection those facul- 
ties which are most properly manly, and rational : 
to propose to ourselves an end worthy of our na- 
ture, and regulate and adjust our subordinate pur- 
suits, and the common actions of our lives, by a 
regard to this end. 

The enqu iry that naturally arises From these ob- 
servations is, what is this great, proper, and worthy 
• «nd of human life ? What are those attainments, 
which are most properly manly, and befitting us ? 
What is that course of life, the prosecution of 
which will be attended with the most complete and 
growing satisfaction, and secure to us the esteem 
of all, who are the best judges of our merit ? This 
I shall endeavour to explain in discoursing from 
the words of the apostle in my text, whether ye eat 
or drink, or whatever ye do, do all to the glory of 
God- 

1st. Ascertaining, what we are to understand 
by the Glory of God. 

2d. The reasonableness and advantage of con- 
sulting the Glory of God in all our actions. 

The true sense of the phrase (the Glory of 
L 2 God) 



152 



DOING ALL TO THE 



God) will be the easiest to come at, by attending 
to the subject of the Apostle's discourse, with 
what goes immediately before, and after these 
words. There had been in the church of Corinth 
some difference of sentiment about the lawfulness 
of eating meats offered in sacrifice to idols, and 
the apostle Paul was applied to (as it seems by 
letter) to decide the difference ; which he does 
with great judgment and wisdom, in the follow- 
ing manner. As an idol, says he, is nothing in the 
world, or of no more worth or importance than the 
wood or stone which represents it ; and the earth 
is the Lord's and the fullness thereof, and design- 
ed by him for the use of man ; the dedication of 
meat to an idol ; does no way affect the goodness 
of it, or render it unfit to be applied to the use for- 
which it was intended : Should the consecration 
of a thiugto a being so imaginary and impotent, 
render the goodness of God of none effect to 
tho.se who acknowledge his goodness in providing 
it for the m, by giving thanks for it, who have no 
faith in the divine power of the idol to which it 
is consecrated, and do not look upon it as an ac- 
knowledgment of the divinity of the idol. What- 
ever provision therefore is sold in the shambles 

that, 



GLORY OF COD." 153 

that, says the apostle, eat, asking, no questions for 
conscience sake : And again, if any of them that 
believe not, bid you t* a feast, and ye be disposed to 
go, whatsoever is set before you, eat, asking no 
questions for conscience sake : But, says he, if any 
man say unt* you, This is offered in sacrifice to 
idols; if he appear to be scrupulous about the 
lawfulness of eating it, eat not, for his sake that 
shewed it, and for his conscience sake. After 
which follow the words of my text : Whether ye 
eat or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the 
Glory of God. Giving none offence, neither to the 
Jew or Gentile, or to the church of God. Even, 
says he, as I please all men in all things, not seek- 
ing mine own profit, but the profit of many, that they 
may be saved. From whence we may infer that 
to eat or drink without any regard to the preju- 
dice of the weak and conscientious, so as to dis- 
quiet their minds, and tempt them, ki imitation of 
us, to sin in acting contrary to their consciences, 
is not to eat and drink to the glory of God ; and 
therefore that to eat and drink, or do any thing, 
to the glory of God, is to act in such a manner, 
even in the most ordinary occasions of life, as 
shall be least to the prejudice, and most to the ad- 
vantage, of the virtue, and happiness, of our fellow 
L 3 creatures * 



1*4 



not KG ALL TO THE 



creatures : Which implies, that we should lire 
according to the laws of sobriety and virtue our~ 
selves, and by our example and influence, pro- 
mote the same regard to them in all we converse 
with. Hereby we shall' secure to ourselves the 
most solid and rational satisfaction in this; life,: and i 
attain to consummate happiness with all the vir- 
tu ou s and the good, in the life to come,. And wilt 
not God be glorified when: all his creatures that 
resemble himself and are worthy of it,, are happy 
as he himself is happy ? 

For, by another method of investigation,, it may 
be made to appear, that the glory of God consists 
in the virtue and happiness of men. Is not God 
glorified when all his purposes and designs are 
fully accomplished ? and all the creatures he hath: 
made answer the end for which he made them ? 
Now r what can we conceive to be a more worthy 
end of the divine action, than the happiness of his 
creatures ? And what is a fitter means to promote 
this end than virtue ? This we are convinced of„ 
not only because it is most agreeable to the ami- 
able ideas we naturally conceive of the Divine 
Being; but it is a truth which every appearance 
in nature suggests and confirms. It being the 
will of God> therefore, that we should attain to 

virtue 



GLORY OF COD. 



155 



virtue and happiness, then is God glorified by us, 
when we do attain to virtue and happiness, or are 
in the way to attain it. 

It is in this sense that the heavens declare the 
glory of God ; as they display his wisdom, pow- 
er, and goodness, and thereby answer the end for 
which they were created. In like manner, when 
brute beasts follow the propensities of their na- 
tures, and enjoy the share of* happiness allotted to 
them, they answer the end for which they were 
made, and in them is their maker glorified. And 
for the same reason, then, and then only, is God 
glorified in us, when we love and follow virtue, 
and are in the way to the happiness to which it 
leads, because for this end it was, that we were 
made. 

Thus you see that to glorify God, in the scrip- 
ture sense of the word, is the very same thing as 
to honour and serve God for God is equally glo- 
rified, and honoured, and served by us, when we 
obey his will, and live righteously, and soberly, 
and godly in the present world- This too perfect- 
ly agrees with what our Saviour calls glorifying 
God, John XV, 8. In this is my Father glorified, 
when ye bring forth much fruit. That is the 
fruits of righteousness. And with the apostle 
L 4 else- 



156 »OING ALL TO THE 



elsewhere : this is the will of God even our sane- 
tifi cation. 

Observe, however, that eating and drinking, or 
doing any ordinary action of life, to the glory of 
God, does not imply that we should every moment 
attend to the glory of God, that it should be the im- 
mediate motive of all our actions ; but only that it 
should ever be the ultimate motive of them ; that 
which we should recvr to from time to time,, until 
we shall have acquired a habit of observing the 
rules of temperance, sobriety, and virtue in al! 
we do ; even without expressly attending to the 
consideration of the glory of God, in every parti* 
cular action. 

Before I proceed to the next head, I shall just 
take notice, what monstrous absurdities we are 
apt to run into, when we imagine that the glory of 
God consists in any thing else than the prevalence 
of virtue and religion in the world ; or when we 
think to substitute any thing else in the place of 
real substantial virtue. If we take upon us to 
substitute one thing in the place of virtue, we may, 
upon the same authority, and with the same ease, 
substitute one thousand, for there is no setting 
bounds to the imaginations of men, distempered, 
and rendered more fertile of invention, by super- 
stition* 



GLORY OF GOD. 



157 



stition. But most pernicious is that error by 
which men imagine that they glorify God, not by 
mercy, forbearance, and benevolence ; but the 
diabolical engines of hatred, malice, and persecu- 
tion. As if God was glorified, not in the happi- 
ness, but in the destruction of his creatures: As 
if it was the most effectual way to recommend 
themselves to the favour of God, to counteract his 
own gracious intentions and conduct; and to 
breathe a spirit, the most contrary to that mercy 
and clemency, with which he ever acts towards 
mankind. 

2d. I consider the reasonableness and advantage . 
of consulting the glory of God, as it has been ex- 
plained above. 

I shall avoid entering into a long detail of the 
obligations we lie under to consult the glory of 
God, and to shun every thing in. our conduct that 
might dishonour him, by giving offence to, or any 
way injuring, our fellow creatures ; and shall con- 
tent myself with summing them up as briefly as 
possible. Since it may be shown in a very few 
words, that all the obligations that are deemed fit 
to enforce obedience to any superior on earth, con- 
cur to enforce our obedience to God ; besides se- 
veral 



158 



33 01 IT G AXX TO f HJC 



^eral obligations which are peculiar to this, the 
highest of all our connexions and relations. 

1st. We are under obligation to glorify and 
serve God as our creator and preserver* This is 
an inference which St. Paul teaches us to draw from 
this consideration. Since we are not our own, let 
us glorify God with bodies and with souls which 
are his. Shall I prostitute those members of my 
body, or powers of my mind, to any other use, 
than that for which they were given me ? Is not 
the end for which he made them the noblest for 
which they could be made? Shall I then, either 
vainly presume to mend the design, or impiously 
presume to contradict him, in what I am sensible 
is wisest and best ? To use the argument of the 
apostle, Hath not the potter power over the clay ? 
Are not my passions of his forming and moulding ? 
Should they not then be applied to the purposes 
for which he intended them ? And am not I crimi- 
nal in indulging them to my own or others preju- 
dice, contrary to his gracious intention? Should 
not my reason conform itself to the dictates of that 
eternal reason, from whioh it is derived? And 
should not conscience be put into the full posses- 
sion of all the power and influence, my maker in-, 
tended it should have? Let mc not then dispute 

the 



€LORY ©F SOD. 



the authority of God* Or, with the potters vessel, 
in the apostle, absurdly ask, why hast thou made 
me thus ? My powers of body and of mind are not 
my own, and therefore not at my disposal, but I 
am accountable to him, that made me, for the pur- 
poses to which I apply them* 

2d. Setting aside the authority of God, as our 
creator, gratitude should oblige us to consult the 
glory of God in all our actions. An ingenious 
mind that is sensible of its obligations, and of the 
pleasure of its benefactor, cannot hesitate what 
part it has to act. To return the obligation, is its 
first thought, its immediate resolution, and its fix- 
ed steady pursuit. Are any of us ignorant what 
God hath done for us ? Is it not from him that we 
derive all our capacity for pleasure, and all our 
means of avoiding pain ? Hath he not provided us 
with pleasures proper and sufficient to satisfy all 
the regular calls of nature ? Hath he not crowned 
our lives with loving kindness and tender mercies Z 
What is the whole course of our lives, but a con- 
tinued experience of the goodness of God ? Who 
is the giver of every good, and of every perfect gift, 
and of whom do we receive, life, breath, and all 
things ? And is not every mercy we receive at the 
hands of God^ of the nature of our obligation to 

study, 



160 



DOING ALL TO THE 



study, and conform ourselves to, his will and plea- 
sure ; to consult his glory rather than our own ? 
And should we not deny ourselves the most favo- 
rite gratification, upon understanding, that the in- 
dulgence of our desire in this case, would be look- 
ed upon as a slight or dishonour cast upon him. 

Knowing then that the will of God is the virtue 
and happiness of men, should we not, setting aside 
all private regards, disinterestedly, and from a prin- 
ciple of gratitude to God, study the welfare and 
edification of our fellow creatures ; and avoid anjr 
thing, ho wever innocent in itself, and to us, that 
nlight wound and hurt their minds? This is the 
love of God that we keep his commandments 
that we conduct ourselves in such a manner, as 
will be most pleasing to him, and beneficial to man- 
kind, and in this is God glorified. By the shining 
example of a virtuous life and conversation, we 
should provoke to love and to good works; be- 
cause when our light shines before men, others see, 
and are induced to imitate, our good works, and 
thereby glorify our Father who is in Heaven. 

3d. Our obligation to serve and glorify God, 
may be further enforced and illustrated, by com- 
paring it with human obligations, of a parallel* 
though inferior nature. Should servants, consult 

the 



GLORY OF GOD. 



161 



the pleasure and the honour of their master, and 
subjects of thek sovereign ? We too have a mas- 
ter in Heaven : We too are subjects to the king 
of kings, whose pleasure and honour we are un- 
der a like obligation to consult before all things 
elss. And to act in disobedience to his com- 
mands, or to dishonour him, is in this light as the 
sin of rebellion, and treason. Should the filial af- 
fection of children prompt them to consult the 
pleasure and the honour of their parents ; We too 
have a Father in Heaven, intitled to an infinitely 
higher regard : he is both more beneficent, and 
more wise in dispensing his favours; and there- 
fore should command more of our affection and 
esteem. 

Lastly, do all men think themselves, in some 
measure, obliged to maintain the honour of per- 
sons of distinguished abilities, and great worth? 
Alas, what are all human characters, to the all-per- 
fect character of the ever- blessed God ? What is 
their worth, merit or deserts compared to his! 
If then we shew so great zeal for the honour of 
men we admire ; Should not we be more zea- 
lously affected in a better cause ? Should we not 
enter more warmly into the interests of virtue; 
because it is the cause of God; and labour to 

promote 



162 fcoiire Ait to ¥}tl 

promote the virtue and happiness of our fcild# 
creatures ; because we know, that this is what 
the Divine Being is most intent Upon ; in this 
he is most glorified ; and in this manner we are; 
most capable of expressing our zeal and attach- 
ment to that Being, who hath deserved so well 
of us 5 and all mankind* 

4th. When we are actuated by a zeal for the glo* 
ly of God, we* in the most effectual manner, con- 
sult our own glory. Is not that course of life by 
which we glorify God the most perfective of our 
natures, and consequently that which is attended 
with the noblest, and most refined satisfaction, and 
that which will raise us the highest in the esteem 
of every being who is a judge, and especially of 
him who is the best judge, of true worth ? Compar- 
ed to this, how empty! how precarious! how 
short-lived ! how insignificant ! is the glory that 
results from any other qualification. There is no 
praise like that which is founded on virtue : if any 
thing else be the ground of it, instead of elevating, 
ennobling, and improving the mind ; it only serves 
to swell and corrupt the heart that is fondly pleased 
with it. 

That in living to the glory of God we consult 
the perfection and glory of our nature, is evident ? 

because 



because the glory of God consists and terminates 
in the perfection, and happiness of all his crea- 
tures. Here therefore the noblest, and the most 
interested motives of action unite, and concur to 
cnforee the same maxims of conduct, and the same 
course of life. Indeed, so happy is the present 
constitution of things, that not only those which 
are always the noblest, and most worthy , but those 
which show themselves to be in fact the strongest, 
and the most powerful, motives of action, if 
rightly understood, lead to, and enforce the prac- 
tice of virtue : so that whatever be our darling pas- 
sion, it only requires to be rightly understood, and 
it can never mislead us : we may allow men, for 
instance to be influenced by the love of pleasure, so 
that it be but true, lasting, pleasure ; to give wholly 
into the pursuit of gain, so it be true substantial 
gain, what will in the end appear to be so ; to thirst 
for honour and applause, so that they be not de- 
ceived in their notions of honour, and mistake not 
the false and delusive, for the true and substantial ; 
so they do not, like the Pharisees, love the praise 
of men, more than the praise of God. And, con- 
versely ; if we are careful so to live as to glorify 
God in our actions, if our conduct be such as shall 
cast no reproach upon our maker, we may make 

ourselves 



164 DOING ALL TO THE 

ourselves easy about our own glory, our own pica* 
sure, or our own advantage ; for all those will cer- 
tainly appear in the train, among the attendants 
and in the consequences of virtue. This is that 
wisdom, which hath in its right hand length of 
days, and in its left hand riches and honour. 

Let our views then be single ; so that whether 
we eat or drink, or whatever we do, let us do all to 
the glory of God ; so as to honour him by the wis- 
dom and moderation we observe in all our grati- 
fications and pursuits ; and we may assure our- 
selves, that we are those whom God will delight 
to honour and reward. A zeal for his glory and 
honour, is what no selfish consideration will make 
us repent of ; for he will give grace and glory, 
and no good thing will be withhold, from them 
that walk uprightly. 



RESIGNA- 



< 



165 

RESIGNATION 

TO THE 

WILL OF GOD. 



It is the Lord, Jet Mm do what seemeth him 
good. 1. Sam. III. 18. 

In these words we are presented with a most 
amiable view of the character of Eli. Notwith- 
standing a considerable flaw in his character, for 
which his family was justly deprived of the priest- 
hood, his heart must, in the main, have been right 
towards God, when he could hear the news of 
the greatest calamity and dishonour, that coukl 
befal his family with such devout composure. 

The religious exercise of meditation on the 
being, perfections and providence of God must 
have been very familiar to his mind before the 
simple apprehension, that it was God who was 
the author of his affliction, could give him such 
immediate ease; It is the Lord, says this good 
M old 



166 RESIGNATION TO tfcfc 

old man; that was enough. Without farther 
reasoning, it was a consequence familiar to his 
mind, what he had a full and practical persuasion 
of, that then all was right, Let him do what seem* 
eth htm good. They are the best formed minds, 
the most devoted to God, and approved by him y 
that are capable of reasoning in this manner, and 
of feeling immediate relief from it, in scenes of 
real distress. 

But Eli, you will say, reasoned in this manner, 
in a situation truly calamitous, to relieve an ex- 
traordinary pressure upon his mind, and when 
there was peculiar occasion to walk humbly be- 
fore God. You may therefore think that reflec- 
tions of this kind are proper only in cases of like 
difficulty and distress; and you may be saying, 
are the ways of providence at this time peculiarly 
dark and mysterious, do you apprehend that we 
are in more than ordinary danger of repining, and 
being dissatisfied with our condition. Suppose 
that nothing of this be the case, though it must 
be so at all times with many individuals, and we 
ought all of us to feel for others, as well as fotf 
ourselves. But suppose that the world should 
now smile upon you, that, in the language of the 
scripture, our mountain stands strong, and there is 

no 



WILL OF GOD. 



167 



lio prospect of your being presently moved. Is 
your mind entirely composed, staid on God; 
and are you so entirely resigned to the will of 
providence, as that no unexpected event can shake 
your confidence and trust in God. If not, an ad- 
dress of this nature is not wholly unseasonable. 
And indeed this temper of resignation is a virtue 
in which we can never excel too much, and since 
it respects the deity, who is an infinite being, it is 
capable of unlimited increase. For it is always 
in proportion to our apprehension of the divine 
power, wisdom, and goodness ; so that this dis- 
position of mind can never be properly perfect 
while the Divine Being remains incomprehensi- 
ble, which, to our finite understandings, he must 
always be. While, therefore, we may yet either 
loiow more of God, or conceive more strongly of 
his power, wisdom, and goodness, our confidence 
in him, and our resignation to his will, may be 
more complete. 

In discoursing on this subject, I shall, in the 
first place, assign some reasons for a chearful ac- 
quiescence in the divine appointments, respecting 
ourselves, our friends, and the world. But pre- 
vious to this, I must briefly state the true notion 
ci" trusting God, which may be defined to be a ha- 

M 2 bit 



168 



RESIGNATION TO THE 



bit of recurring to God upon all occasions, and 
habitually regarding him as the first and proper 
cause of all things, and of all events. It is found- 
ed upon such a practical persuasion concerning 
the infinite power, wisdom and goodness of God, 
as shall engage us to believe that he will effectual- 
ly provide for us, if we always endeavour to please 
him. Consequently, it excludes all anxiety a- 
bout our present or future condition ; but by no 
means such a concern as is sufficient to rouse us 
to the full exertion of all our faculties in the dis- 
charge of our duty, on which our present and fu- 
ture happiness entirely depend. In short, it is 
this persuasion, that if we in the first place pursue 
the things that relate to the kingdom of God, and 
his righteousness, emery thing else, that is truly 
needful and proper for us, shall, in the exertion of 
cur best endeavours, be certainly added imto us. 

I now proceed to give the reason for chearful 
acquiescing in the divine appointment. And 
first, we must be convinced that, in respect to 
many things of which we are apt to complain > or 
the more remote causes of our hardships, such as 
the circumstances of our birth, education, and ge- 
neral fortune, in which Our own determinations 
had no influence, it is not, nor ever was in our 

power 



WILL TO GOB. 



169 



power to alter the course of things ; and if we be 
governed by reason, it must be enough to silence 
all repining at our lot, to consider that our repin- 
ing can avail nothing to alter it. Did what we 
are dissatisfied with in any way depend upon our- 
selves, as in cases where our vices and follies have 
influence, it might answer a good purpose to in- 
dulge painful reflections, as it might be a motive 
with us to recover the false steps which we had 
made, or at least to put us upon our guard for the 
future. In this case an easy acquiescence of 
mind is far from being proper, and ought by alL 
means to be discouraged. But it is to take plea- 
sure in tormenting ourselves to be distressed be- 
cause things do not go as we wish them to do, 
when we know that they are, and always were*, 
out of our power, and therefore that no anxiety 
that we can give ourselves can tend to relieve us. 

While David imagined he might possibly pre- 
vail with God to spare the life of his child, he af- 
flicted himself, and continued fasting and praying ; 
but when he perceived that the child was dead, we 
read that he arose from the ground on which hs 
had been prostrate, that he washed himself, and took 
some refreshment ; for, says* he, while the child 
was yet alive* I fasted and wept, for I said who can 

M 3 t<di 



170 



RESIGNATION' TO THE 



tell whether God will be gracious to me, that the 
child may live ; but now he rs dead; wherefore 
should I fast? Can I bring him back again; E 
shall go to him, but he shall not return to me. 2 
Sam. XII, 22. This conduct argues the greatest 
strength of mind, which few can attain,, but to 
which all ought to aim* 

The proof of a reality of providence, l am per- 
suaded, Is^unnecessary at this time. Things so won- 
derfully adjusted to one another,- as the several 
parts of this system, argues the whole to be the 
result of consummate wisdom, and as the same 
wisdom still superintends every thing, w r e may 
assure ourselves that the whole will be brought to 
its destined perfections whatever attempts may 
be made to disturb the order of things, and to 
prevent its proper completion.. 

But besides this kind of evidence, w r e have,, ins 
the scripture^ such assurance given us of it, as 
ought to silence all our doubts. We are there in- 
formed, that God- will certainly execute all his plea- 
sure. The proud king of Assyria, boasting of his 
wisdom and might r was only a rod w the hand of 
God's anger, and the still prouder Nebuchadnez- 
zar was only his hired servant. 

Upora 



WILL OF GOD. 



171 



Upon the whole, both reason and scripture con- 
cur to assure us, that every man's general station 
and lot in life, are appointed by a wise superintend- 
ing providence ; and as he gives the kingdoms of 
this world to whomsoever he pleases, so the affairs 
of individuals are not less particularly attended to, 
in the great comprehensive plan of the universe* 
He has given us all a set time, and bounds, which 
we can neither pass, nor remove. And thou gh, in 
many cases, his ways are a great deep, and his foot- 
steps in mighty waters, it is no objection to the rea- 
lity of the things 

Is then, our situation in life not so advantageous 
and agreeable as we could wish, let us not repine 
at it; because, we are just where God thought fit 
to place us,, but let us make the best improvement 
of it, and get the most perfect enjoyment of it that 
we can. Even with respect to the difficulties that 
have befallen us by reason of others, or by our- 
selves, we ought still to look beyond both others 
and ourselves, unless we consider ourselves and 
others, and indeed the whole human race, as out 
of the plan and reach of that providence which con - 
trouls all things. In cases where men are the im- 
mediate causes of particular events, and conse- 
quently, where blame and self reproach have the 
M 4 greatest: 



172 



RESIGNATION TO THE 



greatest propriety and effect, we ought not to con- 
fine our views to men. They cannot be any thing 
more than secondary causes, and we ought to look 
beyond them to the first and primary cause of all 
things, to that great being who over-rules even the 
follies and vices of men , and makes them the in- 
strument of his great and good designs. 

Joseph could not but be sensible that it was by 
the malice and wicked contrivance of his brethren y 
that he was sold into Egypt ; yet when he saw 
the great and good purpose that was answered by 
it, he could say, with peculiar satisfaction, that it 
was God who had sent him before them into that 
countrv. David well knew the malice of Shimei, 
and retained a proper resentment of it ; but yet he 
could say, even in the moment of his greatest pro- 
vocation, let him curse, for God has bid him curse. 
What true piety, and greatness of mind was that. 

Our Saviour also, who knew what there was in 
man, well knew that it was the outrageous malice 
of the Jews that was the immediate cause of his 
cruel sufferings and death, and he was not sparing 
of his invectives against them, and yet knowing 
the design of God, and the infinite advantage that 
his dying in those circumstances would be of to the 
world, he received his afilictions as from the hand 



WILL OF GOD. 



173 



of God. tc The cup/' says he, " that my father 
" gives me to drink, shaH not I drink it." 

With respect to the difficulties we bring up- 
on ourselves by our follies and vices, shame, and 
remorse are certainly proper, and indeed una- 
voidable. They ought therefore to be indulged, 
until they have answered their purpose, by cor- 
recting the disposition of the mind which was the 
cause of our improper conduct. But still we 
ought not to forget that there is a will above ours, 
and that comprehends ours ; that it is God who 
suffers us to fall, and that whatever we may have 
intended, he no doubt, has the best end to an- 
swer by our failings, as well as those of others. 
We should therefore humble ourselves before 
him, and confide in him ; assuring ourselves, that 
when, by means of the course of discipline to 
which he has wisely subjected us here, we shall 
be sufficiently exercised and improved, an end 
will be put to the troubles we bring upon our- 
selves, as well as to those which others bring up- 
on us. , 

Secondly, to this reason for acquiescing in the 
divine disposals, drawn from the consideration 
of our incapacity to alter the course of things, 
we may subjoin another, which is, that, if we 

could 



174 



RESIGNATION TO THE. 



could alter it, there is no reason why we should 1 
wish to have it altered- For, the affairs of the 
world, and of all men, are already in the best 
hands , so that no regard to our private happiness, 
or that of society, can be justly alarmed whatever 
turn the course of things may take. And' this 
consideration should make us perfectly easy in all 
cases, where we have no influence. We want no- 
proof that the God in whose hand our breath is,, 
and whose are all our ways, who does whatever 
he pleases in the armies of Heaven above, and; 
among the inhabitants of the earth here beneath*, 
is more concerned then even we ourselves can be 
for the happiness of his Creatures.. In all his, 
works of creation or providence,, we see that he is 
good to all, and that his tender mercies are aver 
all his works. This is true, even of his greatest : 
judgments* Is there any evil in a: city, says the 
prophet, and the Lord has not done it ? Can, any 
tiling befal us, or others,, without his permission, 
or express appointment I And if it be within the 
compass of his intention, can it produce any thing 
contrary to his intention ; that is, any thing con- 
trary to the designs of perfect wisdom and good- 
ness.. 



Alt 



WILL OF GOB. 



175 



All the works ©f God are of a piece, however 
different they may appear at first view ; and we 
may assure ourselves, that they all uniformly con- 
cur in promoting some great design, worthy of the 
divine power, wisdom and goodness. Affections, 
we read, come not from the dust, nor do troubles 
spring out of the ground, as if they came by chance % 
or without design. What we call chance, can 
have no place in the works; of God, for nothing 
can happen unforeseen or unintended by him, and 
if nothing comes to pass without his design, no- 
thing comes to pass without the most kind and 
gracious design possible. We may some time, 
like Jacob, be apt to say, all these things are against 
us ; but it is our ignorance, as i| was his, that 
dictates the language. What we call unfriendly 
occurrences, come in fact with the mostly friendly 
intention, only we happen to mistake their meaning. 

As soon as we shall have got a good understand- 
ing of the ways and works of God, we shall perceive 
that they all speak the same language, and look to 
the same end. All the works of God praise him, and 
wear the most favourable aspect towards the sub- 
jects of his government, and the objects of his care. 
Storms and tempests are as much the voice of a 
benevolent and gracious God, as the sound of the 

small 



176 



RESIGNATION TO THE 



small rain upon the tender grass, to use the lan- 
guage of the psalmist ; or any other, the most 
pleasing accents in nature. Such is the perfect 
harmony through all the works of God, that evea 
the sun, moon and stars, and every thing the. 
psalmist enumerates,, things the most distant in 
place, and the most opposite in nature, join, as we 
may say, in the same hymn of praise to God. It 
is true their tone is different,, but, if w T e may pursue 
this figure, they differ as the several parts of an ex- 
cellent piece of music, and when heard together,, 
make the most perfect harmony. 

So when, in some future period of our existence,, 
and from a more advantageous point of view, we 
shall take a larger survey of the works of creation 
and providence, when we shall see them in the 
light in which God himself sees them, according 
to their true, though often remote relations and. 
uses, we shall pronounce them all to have beerr 
very good, admirably calculated to be, or to make, 
happy. We shall then see, to adopt the language* 
of the apostle Paul, that all things have been ours, 
that life or death, things prosperous or things ad~ 
verse, have worked together for our good. We 
shall then see that our having been from time to 
time deprived of several enjoyments, which then 

cost 



WILL OF GOD. 



ITT 



cost us many tears, and involved us in deep dis- 
tress, were the very best things that could have be- 
fallen us ; and that to have had our wishes gratifi- 
ed in those circumstances, would have been in 
danger of alienating our minds from God and our 
duty ; and by putting us out of our proper pur- 
suit, would have plunged us at length in deeper 
and more lasting distress. We may then proba bly 
tremble to think how narrowly we escaped the 
most imminent dangers, and see that had we been 
suffered to proceed, as we then wished, we should 
have been inevitably lost. 

Timely chastisements are, certainly, the most be- 
nevolent parts of the divine condu ct. There is no- 
thing that, in general, we all stand in greater need 
of; and in many cases nothing could be more 
hurtful to us than success in our favourite pur- 
suits. It is happy for us that God does not always 
answer us according to our own meaning in our 
prayers. How possible is it that we may be most 
earnest in our prayers for what would infallibly ru- 
in us, and desire with all importunity to be deliver- 
ed from a thing which would constitute or ulti- 
mately produce our greatest good. 

This ignorance of our own best good should 
teach us not to be either particular, or importunate^ 

in 



178 fcasi&tfA'Tioar to the 



in our prayers, but always to express ourselves 
with great latitude, and a most entire resignation. 
God knows all our wants, and therefore has no 
need that we should inform him of them ; nor does 
he want any good- will towards us, if we have ta- 
ken care, by doing our duty, to make ourselves 
proper objects of his favour ; so that he hath alrea- 
dy every disposition that we should wish to excite 
in him. But by praying we express the sense we 
have of our dependence upon him, and of our obli- 
gations to him ; and we should express ourselves 
in such a manner as that our language shall im- 
ply no more ; and least of all, any thing that should 
look like dictating to him what he should do for 
us. Our business is solely with our own minds, 
our own tempers and dispositions. Farther 
than this is wholly within the sphere of providence 
and we have nothing to do, but to submit, and re* 
joice. 

Thirdly, without resignation to the will of God, 
in disagreeable situations and prospects, the end of 
our afflictions cannot be answered, and consequent- 
ly we ourselves shall be the losers. Men are by 
their frame and their obvious connections design- 
ed for a state of trial and discipline, and the scrip- 
tures every w r here suppose and consider us in such 

a state* 



Witt OF GOD. 



179 



*a state. We are so placed, that the circumstances 
We are in, and the various incidents of our lives, 
all appointed by divine providence, are adapted to 
affect our tempers and dispositions ; and they are 
all capable of affecting us, either favourably or un- 
favourably. Whether our circu instances be pros- 
perous or adverse, they may either improve our 
minds in virtue, or they may lead us farther off 
from the paths of virtue, and consequently of hap- 
piness. But so wise and gracious is the appoint- 
ment of all things, that nothing befals but what 
may be made a means of good to us. There is no 
event in our lives, but, if it be considered in a 
proper light, and be duly meditated upon, may 
have the most happy effect on our minds, and pre- 
pare us for our proper happiness ; at the same 
time that, if we receive them in a different manner, 
they may have the most fatal effect upon our tem- 
pers and conduct, and thereby lead us to certain 
ruin. 

New afflictions, and every thing that is disa- 
greeable and calamitous, are things that are natu- 
rally capable of leading to virtue or to vice, and 
consequentially of yielding us happiness or mise- 
ry. They improve our tempers and promote our 
Jaappiness, if they make us resigned to the will of 

God, 



180 RESIGNATION TO Tfil 

God, because they then wean our minds from the 
pursuit of a species of happiness which is not ca- 
pable of yielding us any real satisfaction, and they 
direct our views to God, and such objects as will 
not finally disappoint us* Considering them in 
this light, they are kind admonitions to shun 
what though flattering, is, nevertheless, hurtful to 
us. We have, therefore, reason to receive them 
with gratitude, as things exceedingly salutary, 
for though, for the present they be not joyous, but 
grievous, as the apostle says, they w^ork out for 
us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of 
glory i but no otherwise can afflictions be of any 
use to us. 

On the contrary, it is plain, that if afflictions 
have any other effect than such as I have now de- 
scribed, they must be exceedingly hurtful to us. 
If they feed discontent, they introduce a state of 
the most complete wretchedness that can invade 
the mind of man, Every emotion of discontent 
adds to the growth of worldly mindedness, and 
makes a man more a slave to his irregular appe- 
tites and passions. Thus by indulging discontent, 
we frustrate the kind intentions of providence in 
our afflictions. 

Fourthly, 



WILL OF GOB* 



181 



Fourthly, resignation to the will of God is a 
temper of mind peculiarly pleasing to him, as 
we may learn both from the nature of the thing 
itself and the most express declarations of scrip- 
ture. That God must be peculiarly pleased with 
this temper of mind is evident from the nature of 
it. Whence arises dissatisfaction with our condi- 
tion in life ? Can we indulge this temper without 
entertaining a suspicion that the course of things 
has taken some wrong turn, and that the Divine 
Being has not been sufficiently attentive to us and 
eur concerns. This disposition of mind is, in ef- 
fect, an arranging of providence, and arises from 
what may be properly called impiety. It is a cal- 
ling in question the wisdom and goodness of God, 
the most important of all his attributes, those 
which make him the proper object of our rever- 
ence, love and confidence ; and can any tiling be 
more justly displeasing to him than this? 

On the contrary, a contented temper of mind 
does honour to God. It gives glory to God by 
believing him to be what he is, and being fully 
impressed with that belief. Resignation is the 
language of a heart that is fully persuaded that 
God is a Being infinitely wise, powerful and good, 
and who gives an unremitted attention to all the 

N works 



182 



Designation to the 



works of his hands. This is giving God the glo- 
ry due to his name, and habitually offering up ta 
him the sacrifice of a meek and quiet spirit which 
in his sight is of great price. Such a person be- 
haves like a creature in his situation, imperfect and 
fallible, under the government of a God who can* 
not mistake concerning him. He does not start 
out of his proper sphere, nor question God fool- 
ishly. 

Lastly, we do not want the express testimony 
of scripture, that this temper of mind is peculiarly 
pleasing to God. How does the Divine Being boast, 
as it were, of the character of Job, who bore his 
severe trials so remarkably well when he tells his 
friends that he bad spoken of him the things that 
were right, whereas they had not ; referring to that 
most remarkable speech of his, when he was 
seemingly stripped of all the enjoyments of life* 
The Lord gave and the Lord taketh away, and 
blessed be the name of the Lord ; and also, af- 
ter receiving positive bodily sufferings, in additi- 
on to these losses, shall we receive good at the 
hand of the Lord, and not receive evil also. 

Do we then believe that it is not in our power to 
alter the general course of things established by 
providence, that the affairs of the world are already 

in 



WILL OF GOD. 



in the best hands, so that we have no reason to 
wish for any other disposition of things, and that 
we ourselves should be losers by indulging a fret- 
ful and discontented temper, as we should thereby 
deprive ourselves of the particular benefit intended 
us by our afflictions ; and do we moreover believe 
that a temper of habitual resignation is peculiarly 
pleasing in the sight of God, and are we not desir- 
ous to cultivate it, and ready, under the prevailing 
influence of it, to say upon all occasions, Not 
our will, but thy will, O our God, and heavenly 
father, be done. Let us, from a full and unshaken 
conviction of the Wisdom and goodness of the so- 
verign disposer of all things, say, whatever calami- 
ty befal us, with Eli in my text, It. is the Lord, let 
him do what se'emeth him good. Let us bless the 
Lord at all times, in sickness as well as in health, 
in adversity as well as prosperity, and let his praise 
be continually in our mouths. Let us rejoice in 
tribulation, knowing that tribulation worketh pati- 
ence ; and patience, experience ; and experience, 
hope : and hope maketh not ashamed, because the 
love of God is shed abroad in our heai ts, by the 
koly Ghost which is given to us. 



N 2 



ON 



184 

BEING PERFECT 

AS 

GOD IS PERFECT. 



Be ye therefore perfect even as your father w/w is 
in Heaven is perfect. Matt. V. 48. 

Jn this excellent discourse, delivered at the very- 
entrance of our Lord on his public ministry, he 
professedly corrects the innovations which the 
Scribes and Pharisees had been long making in the 
law of God. Indeed, the antient religion of the 
Hebrew nation had suffered greatly by this means. 
The genuine moral precepts of it had been relax- 
ed, and its obligation had been weakened and evad- 
ed, on the most frivolous pretences: such as 
equally reflected on their understanding and their 
virtue. The zeal of religionists was spent on the 
externals of religion, while they had very little con- 
cern for the vital, and only valuable parts of it. 

It 



ON BEING PERFECT, &C. 185 

It was, therefore, our Lord's first business to re- 
store religion to its antient and proper standard, 
by exposing the absurd comments by which the 
Scribes and Pharisees had so shockingly perverted 
the law of God, and to explain in their full extent 
its moral precepts, from which the attention of the 
people had been long diverted. 

Consequently, we are not to expect in this dis- 
course any precepts, or maxims of morality, pro- 
perly new, such as mankind had never known be- 
fore ; but to see the moral precepts of the law re- 
stored to their primitive purity, and original ex- 
tent. He expressly declared, that he came not to 
destroy the law, but to fulfil it. He made no in- 
novations in the law itself. His sublime precept 
concerning loving our enemies, has no reference to 
any thing defective in the laws of Moses on that 
head* For that which he says was said by them of 
old time, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate 
thine enemy r is no where to be found in the law. 
On the contrary, the writings of Moses inculcate 
the most extensive benevolence, admonishing us 
not only of the relation in which we stand to all the 
human race, but even to brute creatures ; com- 
passion and tenderness to which he strongly re- 
commends. 

N 3 That: 



186: 



ON BEING ?ERPECT AS; 



That most sublime precept contained in my 
text, Be ye perfect even as your father who is in 
Heaven is perfect, was not new, nor is k peculiar 
to the gospel ; for, Be ye holy as I am holy , is ex- 
pressly quoted by the apostle Peter, 1 Pet. I. 6. 
from the Old Testament, in which it is one of the 
precepts which God gave to the Israelites by Mo- 
ses. Lev. XX. 7. But though all the persons 
to whom Jesus was addressing himself might have 
found, and many of them had no doubt frequently 
read it in their scriptures, there was good reason 
for his repeating it, and laying the stress that he 
does upon it, when it had been generally overlook-, 
cd. or explained away, together with other precepts, 
equally excellent, by the established expounders, 
of the law. 

The importance of this precept will be evident 
if we duly consider the nature of it, and the reason: 
why we may suppose it was recommended to our 
attention. This, therefore, I propose to do in this 
discourse, and then make a short application. 

First. I propose to explain the nature and ex- 
tent of this precept, in. which we are directed to be 
perfect as our father who is in Heaven is perfect. 

That this precept was not intended to be under- 
stood by us in the strictest sense of the words, viz. 

that. 



COI> IS PERFECT. 



that our hearts should be as pure, and our conduct 
asunblameable, as those of our infinitely holy, 
God, requires no proof: The allowance that we 
are but too ready to makes for ourselves is alone 
sufficient to prevent oar putting so rigorous a con- 
struction on the words of our Lord. In this case 
oar prejudices themselves, which so often mislead 
us, will guard us against any mistake of the sense 
of scripture. 

God, who made us, and who knows our frame, 
well knows that we are not capable of living per- 
fectly sinless lives.. Unsteady and fluctuating as 
our minds are, our thoughts will be running after 
improper objects, and in a greater or less degree 
will draw our affections after them ; and thus we, 
in a manner, unavoidably contract guilt. The 
world, moreover, abounds with temptations to 
vice ; and as we cannot avoid being exposed to 
them, and they flatter our appetites and passions,, 
they can hardly fail to excite improper desires at 
least, though it may not proceed to the actual 
commission of any crime. But, certainly, we 
cannot indulge sinful thoughts, or cherish the least 
desire of any thing that is forbidden, without vio- 
lating the purity of our minds, and deviating from, 
perfect innocence. 

N 4 This. 



188 



ON BEING PERFECT AS 



This would be the case were we ever so cir- 
cumspect, attentive to all our thoughts, words, 
and actions, and though we should do all this 
without any intermission. But this extreme cir- 
cumspection is, in fact, impossible, and what the 
u sual state of our minds and thoughts will not ad- 
mit of. Besides, who is as circumspect as he 
might be. Alas, farther than this, in many things 
we all offend, without excepting the very best of 
men, those who come the nearest to the perfectiou 
of human nature. 

We likewise learn from the scriptures, as well 
as from observation and experience, that perfecti- 
on is not to be expected of man. What man is 
there that doethgcod, and sinnethnot. Ecc.VIL20» 
With this limitation we are no doubt to under- 
stand the general characters that are given of good 
men in the scriptures, though no particular faults 
be recorded of them, as of Abraham, who is called 
the friend of God r David, who is said to have been 
a man after God's own heart ; Job, who is called a 
perfect and upright man \ Zaehariah, and Eliza- 
beth, who are said to have walked in all the ordi- 
nances of God blameless ; Nathaniel, who is called 
by our Saviour a man without guile. And when 
be himself, who is said to have been without 1 sm % 

was 



COD IS PERFECT. 



189 



was saluted with the appellation of 'good \ he disclaim- 
ed it ; saying, there was none good, meaning per- 
fectly good, but one that is God; before whom, 
in order to give us the highest idea of the purity 
of his nature, it is said that even the Heavens are 
not clean, and that he charges his angels with 
folly. Job. IV. 18. 

On many accounts, therefore, we may be satis- 
fied that absolute sinless perfection was never ex- 
pected, and could not have been required of us. 
God is not so unreasonable a master as to demand 
of us more than he knows we are able to perform. 
On the contrary, he is ever ready to make every 
possible allowance for the frailties and infirmities 
of our nature ; and nothing but what is purposely 
and habitually indulged can render us obnoxious 
fo his displeasure. 

The proper meaning and intent, therefore, of 
this precept must be this, that we ought to set no 
bounds whatever to our virtuous attainments; 
fixing to ourselves no standard of excellence, 
short of that of the Divine Being himself. Leav- 
ing every thing that is behind, we should, with the 
apostle, be ever pressing on to what is before us, 
(Phil. III. 13.) to something that we have not yet 
attained. Whatever progress we have made in 

virtue, 



190 



ON BEING PERFECT- AS 



virtue, it should be our care to be continually ad- 
ding to it ; and without ever imagining that we, 
have wisdom or virtue enough already, we should 
endeavour to grow wiser and better, so as to im- 
prove our natures^ and consequently our capacity 
for happiness, to the utmost. 

To this end it will be of great use to us to pro- 
pose to ourselves as perfect a model as possible, 
to which we may compare ourselves from time to 
time, in order to form a judgment of the improve- 
ments we make, This model we should fre- 
quently contemplate, as a rule to walk by, or a 
pattern to copy after, without thinking ourselves 
absolutely obliged to attain the same perfection. 
It is, therefore, rather useful as a rule, than obliga- 
tory as a commend* 

Now, what could be more properly recom- 
mended for this purpose than the imitation 
of the Divine Being, to all intelligent and moral 
ag-ents ; he being the most perfect of this class. 
For in these respects, viz. in intelligence and a 
capacity for moral conduct, we are formed in the 
image of God. God. alone is, in these respects, 
absolutely perfect. In the imitation of him, there- 
fore, we are in no danger of being misled, so as 
to copy after any error, or defect, instead of what 

is 



GOD IS PERFECT. 



191 



is excellent. But this I shall enlarge upon un- 
der the next head of my discourse, which was, 

Secondly, to consider the reasons why the imitati- 
on of perfect goodness is ..thus recommended to us, 
rather than such degrees of it as are attainable by 
us. On the first view of the subject, it would 
seem more reasonable, and advisable, to endea- 
vour to imitate only what was within the reach of 
our capacity ; and that to aim at any thing confes- 
sedly above our reach, would only tend to discou- 
rage us, and consequently hinder our proficiency. 
But if we consider the nature of man, to whom 
this precept is given, we shall see it in another 
light; For 

1st. Had any thing less than absolute perfec- 
tion been proposed to us, such is the vanity and 
self conceit to which men are subject, that many 
would easily have imagined they had already at- 
tained to it ; and thus a stop would be put to their 
further improvement. We see every day how- 
apt men are to think too we.ll of themselves. They 
overlook what is most faulty, what gives them 
pain to look upon, but dwell upon what is good> 
and praise worthy, in their dispositions and acti- 
ons. By this means it comes to pass that their 
virtues, by being often contemplated, are magnified 

in 



192 BEING PERFECT AS 

in their apprehensions; and their vices, beings 
overlooked, are lost fight of and forgotten, and 
then it is no wonder that the judgment they form 
of themselves is not just, or according to truth*, 
but greatly too much in their favour ; so that they 
often cry peace, peace to themselves, when there is 
no peace* 

This is the same principle in human nature that 
leads men to detract from the merit of odiers. To 
think other persons better than themselves is a sen- 
sible mortification to them. In order, therefore, 
to bring them to, and, if possible, below, their own 
level, they aggravate their faults, and put some un- 
favourable construction on their best actions. 
And when men find their account in entertaining 
any particular opinion concerning themselves, or 
others, from having a previous disposition towards 
entertaining it, they generally succeed. It is not 
so very difficult or uncommon a thing for a man 
to impose upon himself," 

From this it is easy to infer, that were the re- 
gards of men to be fixed on any imperfect being 
like themselves, though ever so excellent, and it 
were required" of them to be as wise and good, but 
* riot wiser or better, such a rule would, through 
their natural seltconceit, be hurtful to them ; as,, 

on 



GOD JS PERFECT* 193 

on some pretence or other, they might imagine 
they were already as good as they were requ ired to 
be, at the same time that their very self-conceit 
would argue them to be destitute of the most es- 
sential of all virtues, and the foundation of almost 
every other, viz. humility, and a diffidence of a 
lean's self. For where there is this humility, or 
a disposition to undervalue rather than to overva- 
lue their attainments, there wiil be a desire,, and an 
endeavor, to improve ; whereas pride and self-con- 
ceit preclude all farther proficiency in any, thing. 

Wisely, therefore, has it been the object of the 
divine care to leave no room, no pretence whate- 
ver, for this corrupt leaven to insinuate itself into 
the hearts of men, by giving us a pattern of virtue 
and goodness which no man, in the sober use of 
his senses, can ever imagine he can fully come up 
to ; a standard, by which if he rightly measure 
himself and his attainments, he must ever be sen- 
sible of great defects ; to remove which will be a 
constant motive with him to exert himself to the 
utmost, to employ all the force of his faculties, to 
leave nothing untried, that can be of any use to iiru 
prove his disposition, and reform his conduct; 
that he may produce in both a nearer likeness than 
he has yet attained to of the all-perfect nature, and 

the. 



194 



ON BEING fElirzct AS 



the righteous conduct, of the Divine Being, who is 
righteous in all his %vays, and holy in all his works. 
Ps. XIV. 17. 

While we consider what is proposed to us only 
as a pattern to copy after, it cannot be too perfect ; 
because the more perfect it is, the surer guide it is 
for us to follow, and the less danger there is of our 
being misled by it. We are discouraged only 
when we consider ourselves as obliged, under 
some pains and penalty, to come perfectly up to 
our pattern. To consider the character and con*, 
duct of die Divine Being in this light might justly 
discourage us in our endeavours to imitate it* 
The idea of such an obligation must cut off all 
hope of success ; and where there is no room for 
hope, there is no motive to endeavour. In this 
situation men could not be expected to become 
wiser or better. 

But this is not our case. Our heavenly Fa- 
ther has been pleased to recommend himself and 
his conduct to us as a pattern for our imitation, 
that by the contemplation of the perfections of his 
nature, we might form to ourselves thejustest 
ideas of true excellence, and thereby know how 
to direct our endeavours after it ; but at the same 
time, knowing our frame, he is not so unreasona* 

bk 



GOD IS PERFECf. 



ble as to expect we should ever, in any state* and 
much less in this, perfectly come up to it. The 
imitation of the Divine Being, therefore, as it is 
recommended to us in the Gospel, is a noble ad- 
vantage to us in a course of virtue, and nodiscou^ 
ragement or hindrance whatever. 

This, moreover, is an advantage peculiar to our 
holy religion, and therefore what we ought to va- 
lue ourselves upon, and by no means neglect to 
avail ourselves of. With what colour could the 
heathens preach, and philosophers recommend 
the examples of the gods that they worshipped to 
the imitation of their worshippers, many of whom 
(all that were not inanimate parts of nature as the 
sun, moon, and stars, &c.) had been men like 
themselves, and some of them vicious in pro- 
portion to their power. They, therefore, wisely 
declined insisting upon this topic. Whatever 
they say to recommend a life of sobriety and vir- 
tue, they never mention the example of their 
gods. 

But in a christian country there is no reason 
why any teacher of virtue should be silent on this 
head since there is nothing in the character or con- 
duct of the God that we worship that we need be 
ashamed to mention, and expose to the view of 

mankind 



196 



ON BEING PERFECT AS 



mankind. So uniformly great and excellent is 
his character and conduct, that there is no view 
we can take of them but what tends to inspire our 
hearts with an abhorrence of vice, and the love of 
tirtue and goodness.. To enlarge on this subject 
is needless. None of us I trust are so unacquaint- 
ed with God, as not to know that he is essentially 
righteous and holy, and that a righteous Lord; 
must love righteousness, and hate iniquity. For 
what we esteem and practice ourselves we love irt 
others. 

There is no one vice that men are addicted to, 
but a reflection on the nature and conduct of the 
Divine Being must fill us with shame and confu- 
sion for it. Has selfishness an ascendancy over 
us? Do our views and actions center too muck 
in ourselves, and do we not enter w r ith proper 
warmth into the interests of others ? What must 
we think of ourselves, and of this narrow disposi- 
tion, when we reflect on the universal disinterest- 
ed ease and bounty of the Divine Being, all whose 
purposes and works have for their object the hap- 
piness of others, viz. that of the various creatures 
that he has made, who is so far from confining 
his goodness to himself, or those whom we may 
call his friends, that- even his enemies partake of 

it; 



GOD IS PERFECT. 



197 



it ; for he is good to the unthankful and the unwor- 
thy? 

Are we prone to envy, jealousy, malice, and 
revenge, how doubly odious must such a disposi- 
tion appear when compared with the mercy and 
compassion of the Divine Being, who, though all 
power be in his hands, has no pleasure in the death 
of a sinner, but is desirous that all should repent 
and live. And must not all pride, vanity, and self- 
conceit, be for ever struck dumb before an infi- 
nitely great, and yet an infinitely condescending 
God ; who for our sakes has condescended to ap- 
pear in the familiar character of our father and our 
friend, chusing to vail his glory, rather than forbid, 
or discourage, our access to him, andj inter- 
course with him, when it was necessary to our 
happiness ? 

If a man be addicted to excessive animal grati- 
fications, how must the sense of his obligation to 
become like the Divine Being, to be perfect as his 
father in Heaven is perfect, fill him with shame 
and self reproach ; when he must perceive that by 
such low indulgences he is so far from raising and 
improvinghis nature, and bringing himself nearer to 
the all-perfect nature of God, he is divesting himself 
of the prerogatives of a rational nature ; being go- 

O verned 



198 



ON BEING PERFECT AS 



verne'd by mere appetite and passion, and sinking 
as far as his nature will permit him to the conditi- 
on of a brute beast? 

Besides, we who have the benefit of divine reve- 
lation have advantages for the imitation of God of 
which the wisest heathens were destitute. Did 
we know nothing of God, but what the light of na- 
ture teaches, we might be at a loss what to do 
when we were directed to imitate him. We may, 
indeed, be said, in a figurative sense, to trace the 
footsteps, and to hear the voice, of God in his 
works ; but it is in a very obscure and indistinct 
manner. But in revelation the Divine Being may 
be said to assume a proper personal character ', and 
to act a proper part, as intelligible to us as that of 
the prophets, kings, and private persons, with 
which it is intermixed. We see in what manner 
God spake, and how he acted ; from which we 
may infer what he thought and felt on a variety of 
particular occasions, and this at intervals in a long- 
succession, from the time of our first parents to that 
of Christ and the apostles; so that we can no 
more be at any loss to know what to do when we 
are directed to imitate God, than if we had been 
ordered to imitate any person whatever. 

la 



€0D IS PERFECT* 



199 



In some cases, indeed, the infinite superiority 
of the Divine Being to all his creatures must 
make a different rule of conduct necessary. He, 
for instance, is continually promoting good by 
means of evil; and there are many instances in 
the history of his dispensations to mankind of 
great calamity, and heavy judgments, inflicted 
upon families and nations, in which persons of all 
characters are involved, for the sake of promoting 
a great general and lasting good. This we must 
not attempt, because our understandings are finite; 
so that what we imagine to be good may eventu- 
ally prove to be evil ; whereas his knowledge is 
infinite. He sees the end of every thing from the 
beginning, and is also able to make abundant re- 
compence to every individual who may seem to be 
improperly sufferers in cases of general calamity. 

We see then the admirable propriety and use 
of this precept of our Lord, to endeavour to be 
perfect as our Father who is in Heaven is perfect. 
Be it our care, therefore, convinced of its impor- 
tance, to make the proper use of it, by reducing 
it to practice. 

For a man to entertain the idea of being like 
to God, and especially of being in any sense, per- 
fect as he is perfect, is certainly a great and noble, 

O 2 but 



500 ON BEING FEftFECt AS 



but a just and proper aim. For, weak as man ia, 
we ought not hastily and rashly to conclude that 
it is not in our power to attain to great and distin- 
guished excellence ; and that because we cannot 
attain to absolute perfection, we may not make 
considerable approaches to it. The extent of the 
human capacity for knowledge or virtue is un- 
known to ourselves ; and it is for the honour of 
Our maker to suppose it to be Very great, and to 
act upon that supposition. Not more than a cen* 
tury ago it was not imagined that the understand- 
ing of man could [have attained the knowledge of 
which we are now possessed, especially of the 
works and laws of nature ; and, to appearance* 
man is much better formed for moral action than 
fot abstruse speculation ; good practice being ea- 
sy t6 all that sincerely endeavour to live well* 
whereas the investigation of truth is difficult to 
the most intelligent of our species. 

It is, no doubt, witli a view to our imitation of 
God, that we are so particularly informed of our 
near relation to him, as his offspring, and his chil- 
dren ; and that man was originally made in the 
image of God; and though by vice and folly we 
have in a great measure effaced this image, we are 
still invited in the gospel to become again partak- 
ers 



GOD IS PERFECT. 



ers of a divine nature, 2 Pet. I. 4. and this is re- 
presented as the great object and end of the gospel. 
The apostle Paul expressly exhorts christians to be 
followers of God, as his dear , or favoured, children^ 
Eph. V. 1. distinguished by peculiar privileges 
and advantages for purity and greatness of conduct, 
like that of their heavenly father. 

Let us, then, at the same time endeavour to do 
honour to our maker, and to ourselves, by setting 
no bounds to our attainment in virtue ; and there- 
fore let us not think of comparing ourselves tQ 
men like ourselves, subject to the same imperfec- 
tions, but propose to ourselves the imitation of the 
Divine Being himself, endeavouring to be holy as 
he is holy, righteous as he is righteous, and perfect, 
in our sphere and rank, in the scale of being, as he 
is perfect in his. 



OK 



03 



202. 

ON 

HABITUAL DEVOTION. 



The wicked, through the pride of hist countenance y 
will not seek after God. God is not in all his 
thoughts. Ps. X. 4. 

G OD, my christian brethren, is a being with 
whom we all of us have to do, and the relation we 
stand in to him is the most important of all our re- 
lations. Our connexions with other beings, and 
other things, are slight, and transient, in compa- 
rison with this. God is our maker,, our constant 
preserver and benefactor, our moral governor, and 
our final judge. He is present with us wherever 
we are; the secrets of all hearts are constantly 
known to him, and he is of purer eyes than to be- 
hold iniquity* Here, then, is a situation, in which 
we find ourselves, that demands our closest attenti- 
on. The consideration is, in the highest degree, 
interesting and alarming 1 : knowing how absolute- 
ly dependent we are upon God, that in him we live 

and 



ON HABITUAL DEVOTION. 



203 



and move and have our being ; and knowing also, 
that by vice and folly we have rendered ourselves 
justly obnoxious- to his displeasure. 

Now, to think, and to act, in a manner corres- 
ponding to this our necessary intercourse with 
God, certainly requires that we keep up an habitu- 
al regard to it : and a total, or very great degree 
of inattention to it, must be highly criminal , and 
dangerous. Accordingly, we find in the scrip- 
tures, that it is characteristic of a good man, that 
he sets the Lord always before him, and that he ac- 
knowledges God in all. his ways. Whereas . it is 
said of the wicked, in my text, that God is not in 
all their thoughts ; and elsewhere, that the fear of 
God is not before their eyes , that they put the 
thoughts of God far from them, and will not the 
knowledge of the Most High. 

This circumstance seems to furnish a prettv 
good test of the state of a man's mind with respect 
to virtue and vice. The most abandoned and pro- 
fligate of mankind are those who live without God 
in the world, entirely thoughtless of his Being, 
perfections, and providence ; having their hearts 
wholly engrossed with this world and the things of 
it : by which means those passions which terminate 
in the enjoyment of them are inflamed to such a 
O 4 degree,, 



0Q4 OF HABITUAL DEVOTION". 

degree, that no other principle can restrain their 
indulgence. These persons may be called practi- 
cal atheists ; and the temper of mind they have ac* 
quired often leads them to deny both natural and 
revealed religion. They secretly wish, indeed 
they cannot but wish, there may be no truth in 
those principles, the apprehension of which is apt 
to give them disturbance; and hence they give 
little attention to the evidence that is produced for 
them, and magnify all the objections they here 
made to them. And it is well known, that, in a 
mind so strongly biassed, the most cogent reasons 
often amount to nothing, while the most triflings 
cavils pass for demonstration. It is the same with 
respect to any other speculation, when the mind 
has got a Mas in favour of any particularly eon- 
elusion. 

On the other hand, a truly and perfectly good 
man loves, and therefore cherishes, the thought of 
God, his father and his friend ; until every pro- 
duction of divine power and skill, every instance 
of divine bounty, and every event of divine provi- 
dence, never fails to suggest to his mind the idea 
of the great Author of all things, the give r of eve- 
ry good and every perfect gift, and the sovereign 
disposer of all affairs and all events. "Thus he 



ON HABITUAL DEVOTION. 205 

lives, as it were, constantly seeing him, who is in- 
visible. He sees God in every thing, and he sees 
every thing in God. He dwells in love, and there- 
by dwells in God, and God in him. And so long 
as he considers himself as living in the world 
which God has made, and partaking of the bounty 
with which his providence supplies him ; so long 
as he is intent upon discharging his duty, in the 
situation in which, he believes, the Divine Being 
has placed him, and meets with no greater trials 
and difficulties than, he is persuaded, his God and 
father has appointed for his good, it is almost im- 
possible that the thought of God should ever be 
long absent from his mind. Every thing he sees 
or feels will make it recur again and again perpe- 
tually. His whole life will be, as it were, one act 
of devotion ; and this state of mind, being highly 
pleasurable, and his satisfaction having infinite 
sources, will be daily encreasing, so as to grow 
more equable, and more intense to all eternity ; 
when it will be joy unspeakable, and full of glory. 
These are the two extremes of the sentiments 
and conduct of men with respect to God, and all 
the varieties of the human characters will be found 
somewhere between them ; so that wc may be 
deemed virtuous or vicious, in proportion as we 
approach to the one or the other. 

The 



206 ON HABITUAL DEVOTION. 

The more imperfect of the middle classes of 
mankind will have their minds too much engross- 
ed by this world and the things of it, so as to ex- 
clude, in a very great degree, the apprehension of 
God, and of their relation to him. Provided, how- 
ever, that they have had a religious education, these 
thoughts cannot be prevented from recurring from 
time to time, and producing stronger or weaker 
resolutions of repentance and amendment ; but not 
having their full influence, and therefore, serving 
rather to disquiet the mind, conscious of a want of 
perfect integrity, they will be apt to be overborne 
by the superior power of things seen and temporal ; 
and the minds of such persons being in this fluctu- 
ating condition, whatever success they may have 
in the world, their lives will contain a great mix- 
ture of anxiety and remorse. 

But those whom we may stile the more perfect 
of the middle classes of men, though, like the for- 
mer, their minds may be, now and then, carried 
away by the magic influences of this world ; and 
though they may give too far, and too eagerly, into 
the pursuit of its pleasures, riches, and honours, 
they will never wholly, or for a, long time, lose 
sight of God, and of their duty ; and pious senti- 
ments, recurring with superior force at intervals, 

wilb 



ON HABITUAL DEVOTION. 207 

will produce a kind of religious fervour, which, 
rousing the mind to a greater exertion of its pow- 
ers, will produce good resolutions with considera- 
ble strength and vigour ; and thereby break their 
growing attachment to the world. These fer- 
vours, however, will of course remit, and other ob- 
jects will necessarily resume some part, at least, of 
their influence : but if a sense of God and of reli- 
gion have once taken firm hold of the mind, in the 
early part of life, there will be reason to hope, that 
an express regard to them will return with greater 
force, and after shorter intervals, perpetually. By 
this means such strength will be given to the prin- 
ciple of conscience, that in the farthest excursions 
they make from the strict path of religion, even 
while they maintain no express regard to God in 
their actions, the bare apprehension of a thing being 
right, and their duty, will, ia all considerable in- 
stances, immediately and mechanically determine 
their minds ; so that they will never deliberately 
do any thing which they are convinced is unlawful, 
and offensive to God. At most, if ever a stronger 
temptation than usual should induce them to trans- 
gress their known duty, in any of the greater in- 
stances of it, the state of their minds will be such, 
as that these transgressions will be followed by the 

keenest 



208 ON HABITUAL DEVOTION. 

keenest compunction and contrition, which will 
make them less liable to commit the same offence 
a second time. 

Thus we see that those persons, in whose minds 
there is this prevailing disposition to virtue, will 
be improved both by the uniform practice of their 
duty, which necessarily strengthens the habit oi\\. y 
and even by occasional transgressions, which gives 
a, stronger stimulus to the power of conscience. 
But there is great danger, lest these violations of 
known duty be either so great as to produce de- 
spair > which naturally hardens the mind, or so fre- 
quent as to beget a habit. Both- these weaken the 
power of conscience. The man then goes back- 
ward in religion, and may at last, even from this 
more advanced state of virtue, be brought to com- 
.mil all iniquity with greediness. Let him, then, 
who thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall ; and 
let all of us, conscious of the frailty of our natures, 
he intent upon working out our sahation with fear 
and trembling. 

An habitual regard to God being the most effec- 
tual means of advancing us from the more imper- 
fect to the more perfect state I have been describ- 
ing, I shall endeavour to recommend this leading 
. duty to you, by a fuller a»id more distinct enume- 
ration, 



Otf faABITUAL DEMOTION. 209 



ratidn of its happy effects ; and I shall then shew 
what I apprehend to be the most effectual methods 
of promoting it, and of removing the various ob- 
structions to it. 

1. An habitual regard to God in our actions 
tends greatly to keep us firm in our adherence to 
our duty. It has pleased divine providence to 
place men in a state of trial and probation. This 
world is strictly such. We are surrounded with 
a great variety of objects, adapted to gratify a vari- 
ety of senses, with which we are furnished. The 
pleasures they give us are all innocent in modera- 
tion, and they engage us in a variety of agreeable 
and proper pursuits. But our natures are such, 
as that the frequent indulgence of any of our ap- 
petites tends to make its demands inordinate, and 
to beget an habitual propensity to indulge it ; and 
this proneness to the excessive indulgence of any 
of our passions enslaves our minds, and is highly 
dangerous, and criminal. By this means we too 
often come to forget God our maker, to injure our 
fellow- creatures of mankind, and to do a still great- 
er, and more irreparable injury to ourselves, both 
in mind and body. 

It has pleased Almighty God, therefore, from 
the concern he had for our good, to forbid these inn 

moderate 



210 on HABltUAL DEVOTIONS 

moderate indulgences of the love of pleasure* 
riches, and honour, by express laws, guarded with 
the most awful sanctions. Now we are certainly 
less liable to forget these laws, and our obligation 
to observe them, when we keep up an habitual re- 
gard to our great lawgiver and judge ; when we 
consider him as always present with us; when we 
consider that his eyes are in every place, beholding 
both the evil and the good ; that he sees in secret, and 
will one day reward openly. In this manner we 
shall acquire an habitual reverence for God and 
his laws, which will end in an habitual obedience 
to them, even without any express regard to their 
authority. Thus we should certainly be less like- 
ly to neglect the request of a friend, or the injunc- 
tion of a master, if we could always keep in mind 
the remembrance of our friend, or master ; and a 
constant attention to them would certainly give us 
a habit of pleasing them in all things. 

2. An habitual regard to God promotes an uni- 
form chearfulness of mind ; it tends to dissipate 
anxiety, or melancholy, and may even, in some 
cases, prevent madness. Without a regard to 
God, as the maker and governor of all things, this 
world affords but a gloomy and uncomfortable 
prospect. Without this, we see no great end Tor 

which 



ON HABITUAL SEVOTION* 211 



which we have to live, we have no great or ani- 
mating object to pursue ; and whatever schemes 
we may be carrying on, our views are bounded by 
a very short and narrow space. To an atheist, 
therefore, everything must appear little, dark, and 
confused. And let it be considered, that, in pro- 
portion as we forget God, and lose our regard to 
him, we adopt the sentiments and views of atheists, 
and shut our eyes to the bright and glorious pros- 
pects which religion exhibits to us. 

Religion, my brethren, the doctrine of a God, of 
a providence, and of a future state, opens an im- 
mense, a glorious, and most transporting prospect ; 
and every man, who is humbly conscious that he 
conforms to the will of his maker, may enjoy, and 
rejoice in this prospect. Considering ourselves 
as the subjects of the moral government of God, 
we see a most important sphere of action in which 
we have to exert ourselves, we have the greatest of 
all objects set before us, glory, honour, and immor- 
tality ; an inheritance incorruptible, undejiled, and 
that fadeth not away, as the reward of our faithful 
perseverance in well-doing ; and we have a bound- 
less existence, an eternity, in which to pursue and 
enjoy this reward. 

These great views and objects, the contempla- 
tion 



212 ON HABITUAL DEVOTION. 

ion of which must be habitual to the mind which 
keeps up an habitual regard to God, cannot fail to 
diminish the lustre of the things of time and sense, 
which engage our attention here below ; and while 
they lessen our solicitude and anxiety about them, 
they must cure that fretfulness, and distress of 
mind, which is occasioned by the disappointments 
we meet with in them* 

For the same reason, this habitual regard to tk>d„ 
this life of devotion, which I would recommend, 
must tend in some measure to prevent that most 
deplorable of all the calamities mankind are sub. 
ject to, I mean madness. It is well known, that the 
circumstance which generally first occasions, or at 
least greatly contributes to, this disorder, is too 
close, and too anxious an attention to some single 
thing, in which a person is greatly interested ; sa 
that, for a long time, he can hardly think of any 
thing else, and particularly is often prevented from 
sleeping, by means of it. Thus we frequendy see, 
that when persons are of a sanguine temper of 
mind, a severe disappointment cf any kind will end 
in madness. Also a sudden transport ofyay, from 
unexpected success, will sometimes have the same 
effect. But, from the nature of the thing, this 
violence of either kind, could hardly take place in 

a truly 



ON HABITUAL DEVOTION. 



213 



a truly devout and pious mind, in the mind of a 
man who considers all the events, in which he can 
be concerned, as appointed by a God infinitely 
wise and good ; who, he is persuaded, hath, in the 
most afflictive providences, the most gracious in- 
tention to him, and to ail mankind ; and who, by 
the most prosperous events, means to try his vir- 
tue, and to put him upon the most difficult of all 
exercises, that of behaving properly in such cir- 
cumstances. To a mind rightly disposed, and 
duly seasoned with a sense of religion, nothing 
here below will appear to be of sufficient moment 
to produce these dreadful effects. We shall re- 
joice ', as though we rejoiced not; and weep, as 
though we wept not ; knowing that the fashion of 
this world passeth away. 

Deep melancholy is often occasioned, in persons 
of a lower tone of spirits, by the same kind of dis- 
appointments which produce raging madness in 
others. It is the effect of despair, and could never 
take place, but when a person apprehended, that 
that which we may call his all, that in which he put 
his chief trust and confidence, had failed him, and 
he had no other resource to fly to. But a truly re- 
ligious man can never despair ; because, let what 
will befal him here below, he knows his chief hap- 

P piness 



i214 ON HABITUAL DEVOtlOtf. 

piness is safe, being lodged where neither moth not* 
rust can corrupt, and where thieves cannot break 
through and steal. In patience, therefore, he will 
be able at all times to possess his own soul, exercis- 
ing a steady trust and confidence in God, the rock 
of ages, the sure resting-place of all generations. 

Melancholy, or despondence in a lower degree, 
what we commonly call lownest of spirits, general- 
ly arises From a want of some object of pursuit, 
sufficient to engage the attention, and rouse a man 
to the proper exertion of his powers. In this situ- 
ation, he has nothing to do but to think of himself, 
and his own feelings, which never fails to involve 
him in endless anxiety and distress. But a prin- 
ciple of religion will ever put a man upon a varie- 
ty of active and -vigorous pursuits. No truly pi- 
ous and good man can be an idle man. He will 
fully employ all his power of doing good ; he will 
not keep his talent hid in a napkin ; and, far from 
complaining that time hangs heavy on his hands, he 
will rather complain, that he has not time enough 
for the execution of half his benevolent purposes. 

3. An habitual regard to God fits a man for 
the business of this life, giving a peculiar presence 
and intrepidity of mind ; and it is, therefore, the 
best support in difficult enterprises of any kind. 

A man 



©N tfABlTUAt DEVOTIOK. 



215 



A man who keeps up an habitual regard to God, 
who acknowledges him in all his ways, and lives a 
life of devotion to him, has a kind of union with 
God ; feeling, in some measure, the same senti- 
ments, and having the same views. Hence, being, 
in the language of the apostle, a worker together 
with God, and therefore being confident that God 
is with him, and for him, he will not fear what 
man can do unto him. Moreover, fearing God, and 
having confidence in him, he is a stranger to every 
other fear. Being satisfied that God will work all 
his pleasure in him , by him, and for him, he is free 
from alarm and perturbation, and is not easily dis- 
concerted, so as to lose the possession of his own 
* mind. And having this presence of mind, being 
conscious of the integrity of his own heart, confid- 
ing in the favour of his maker, and therefore sensi- 
ble that there is nothing of much real value that 
he can lose, he will have leisure to consider every 
situation in which he finds himself, and be able to 
act with calmness and prudence, as circumstances 
may require. 

Is there, then, any active and difficult service, to 
which w t c are su mmoned by the voice of our coun- 
try, of mankind, and of God, these are the men, I 
mean men of religion and devotion, in whom we 

P 2 «an 



216 ON HABITUAL BEVOTIOW. 

can most confide ? Other men may be roused by 
their passions to any pitch of patriotic enthusiasm* 
They may oppose the insidious attempts of cor* 
rupt ministers or tyrants to enslave their country, 
or may bravely face a foreign enemy in the field, 
though they risk their fortunes, and their lives in the 
contest. But mere wordly-minded men, staking 
their all in such enterprizes as these, and having 
little more than a sense of honour to support them, 
may, in some critical moment, be sensible of the 
value of what they risk, and on that principle prove 
cowards. 

Whereas the man of religion feels the same in- 
dignation against all iniquitous attempts to enslave 
himself and his country, and if he have the same 
native ardour of mind, he will be roused to act 
with the same vigour against a tyrant, or an inva- 
der; but running no risk of what is of most con- 
sequence to him, he will not be so liable to be in- 
timidated : he will be more master of himself, 
have greater presence of mind, and act with greater 
prudence in time of danger. If he die in the glo- 
rious struggle, he dies, not with the gloomy fero- 
city of the man of this world, but with the triu mph 
of a christian, in a consciousness of having finished 
his career of virtue in the most glorious manner in 

which 



ON HA FIT UAL BEVOTIOXft 217 



which he could possibly finish it, in the service of 
his country, and of mankind* 

Having thus considered the important effects of 
an habitual regard to God in all our ways, I come 
to treat of the most proper and effectual methods 
of promoting this temper of mind.. 

1 » If you be really desirou s to cultivate this ha* 
bitual devotion, endeavour,, in the first place, to 
divest your minds of too great a multiplicity of 
the cares of this world. The man who lives to< 
God, in the manner in which I have been endea- 
vouring to describe, lives to him principally, and 
loves and confides in him above alL To be soli- 
citous about this world, therefore, as if our chief 
happiness consisted in it, must be incompatible 
with this devotion. We cannot serve God and 
Mammon. If we be christians, we should consi- 
der,, that the great, and professed object of our re- 
ligion, is the revelation of a future life r of unspeak- 
ably more importance to us than this transitory 
world, and the perishable things of it. As chris- 
tians, we should consider ourselves as citizens of 
Heaven, and only strangers and pilgrims here be- 
low. We must, therefore, see, that, as christians, 
there is certainly required of us a considerable 
degree of indifference about this world, which 
P 3 was 



218 



OK HABITUAL 



DEVOTION. 



was only intended to serve us as a passage to a 
better. 

The Divine Being himself has made wise provi- 
sion for lessening the cares of this world, by the 
appointment of one day in seven, for the purpose 
of rest and avocation from labour. Let us then, at 
least, take the advantage which this day gives us, 
of calling off our eyes from beholding vanity, and of 
quickening ourselves in the ways of God, 

This advice I would particularly recommend to 
those persons who are engaged in arts, manufac- 
tures and commerce. For, highly beneficial as these 
things are in a political view, and subservient to 
the elegant enjoyment of life, they seem not to be 
so favourable to religion and devotion, as the busi- 
ness of agriculture ; and for this reason, therefore, 
probably, among others, the Divine Being forbad 
commerce to the people of the jews, and gave them 
such laws as are chiefly adapted to a life of hus- 
bandry. The husbandman is in a situation peculi- 
arly favourable to the contemplation of the works 
of God, and to asense of his dependence upon him. 
The rain from heaven, and various circumstances 
relating to the weather, &e. on which the good- 
ness of his crops depends, he receives as from the 
hand of God, and is hardly sensible of any secon- 
dary,, 



ON HABITUAL DEVOTION. 



219 



clary, or more immediate cause. If he understand 
any thing of the principles of vegetation, and can 
account for a few obvious appearances upon what 
we call the laws of nature ; these laws he knows to 
be the express appointment of God \ and he can- 
not help perceiving the wisdom and goodness of 
God in the appointment ; so that the objects about 
which he is daily conversant are, in their nature, a 
lesson of gratitude and praise. 

Besides, the emploment of the husbandman 
being, chiefly, to bring food out of the earth y \\\s at 
tention is more confined to the real wmits, or at 
most the principal conveniences of life ; and his 
mind is not, like that of the curious artist and ma- 
nufacturer, so liable to be fascinated by the taste 
for superfluities, and the fictitious wants of men. 

Nor, lastly, does the business of husbandry so 
wholly engross a man's thoughts and attention, 
while he is employed about it, as many of the arts 
and manufactures, and as commerce necessarily 
does. And it should be a general rule with us, 
that the more attention of mind our employment in 
life requires, the more careful should we be to 
draw our thoughts from it, on the day of rest, and 
at other intervals of time set apart for devotional 
purposes. Otherwise, a worldly-minded temper, 
P 4 not 



220 05: HABITUAL DEVOTION". 

not being checked or controuled by any thing of a 
contrary tendency, will necessarily get possession 
of our hearts. 

2. This brings me to the second advice, which 
is by no means to omit stated times of worship- 
ping God by prayer, public and private. Every 
passion and affection in our frame is strengthened 
by the proper and natural expression of it. Thus 
frequent intercourse and conversation with those 
we love promotes friendship, and so also die inter- 
course we ktep up with God by prayer, in which 
we express our reverence and love of him, and our 
confidence in him, promotes a spirit of devotion, 
and makes it easier for the ideas of the Divine Be- 
ing, and his providence to occur to the mind on 
other occasions, when we are not formally praying 
to him. Besides, if persons whose thoughts are 
much employed in the business of this life had no 
time to set apart for the exercise of devotion, they 
would be in danger of neglecting it entirely , at 
least, to a degree that would be attended with a 
great diminution of their virtue and happiness. 

But, in order that the exercises of devotion may 
be the most efficacious to promote the true spirit, 
and general habit of it, it is adviseable, that prayers 
properly so called, that is, direct addresses to the 

Divine 



CH HABITUAL DEVOTION. 221 

Divine Being, be short. The strong feeling of re~ 
verence, love, and confidence, which ought to 
animate our devotions, cannot be kept up in such 
minds as ours through a prayer of considerable 
length ; and a tedious languor in 'prayer is of great 
disservice to the life of religion, as it accustoms 
the mind to think of God with indifference; 
whereas, it is of the utmost consequence, that the 
Divine Being always appear to us an object of the 
greatest importance, and engage the whole atten- 
tion of our souls. Except, therefore, in public, 
where prayers of a greater length are, in a man- 
ner, necessary, and where the presence and con- 
currence of our fellow- worshippers assist to keep 
up the fervour of our common devotion, it seems 
more adviseable, that devotional exercises have in- 
tervals of meditation, calculated to impress our 
minds more deeply with the sentiments we ex- 
press ; and that they be used without any strict 
regard to particular times, places, or posture of 
body. 

This method of conducting devotional exerci- 
ses, which makes them consist chiefly of meditati- 
on upon God and his providence, has in many 
cases several advantages over a direct address to 
God, which should peculiarly recommend it to 

those 



222 OKT HABITUAL DEVOTION. 

those who are desirous to cultivate the genuine 
spirit of devotion. Among other advantages, and 
that not the least, in meditation the mind is not so 
apt to acquiesce in the mere work done (what the 
schoolmen call the opus operation) as it is in formal 
prayer, especially when it is made of considerable 
length. So prone, alas I is the mind of man to su- 
perstition, that hardly any thing can be prescribed 
to us, as a means of virtue, but we immediately 
acquiesce in it as an end ; and not only so, but the 
consequence of a punetilious'observance of prayer, 
and other means of religion, is too often made the 
foundation of a spiritual pride, and self- sufficiency, 
which is of a'most alarming nature ; being directly 
opposite to that deep humility and self-abasement, 
which is ever the predominant disposition of a 
mind truly devout. The sentiment correspond- 
ing to the language stand by thyself, I am holier 
than thou, is not, I am afraid, peculiar to the pha- 
risaical jew, or the romish devotee. It infects 
many protestant religionists, being generated by 
similar causes. Rather than be liable to this, it 
is certainly better, far better, even, to be less regu- 
lar in our exercises of devotion. God resisteth 
the proud \ but giveth grace to the humble. Every 
one that is proud in heart is an abomination to the 
Lord, 

3. In 



ON HABITUAL DEVOTION/ 225 

3. In the course of your usual employment 
omit no proper opportunity of turning your 
thoughts towards God. Habitually regard him 
as the ultimate cause, and proper author of every 
thing you see, and the disposer of ail events that re- 
spect yourselves or others. This will not fail to 
make the idea of God occur familiarly to your 
mind, and influence your whole conduct. 

It is to be regretted, that the taste and custom of 
this country is such, that a person of a devotional 
turn of mind cannot indulge himself in the natural 
expression of it, even upon the most proper and 
just occasions, without exposing himself to the 
particular notice, if not the ridicule, of the general- 
ity of those who may be present ; whereas could 
we decently, and seriously express our gratitude 
to God, upon every agreeable occurrence, and our 
resignation and submission to his will upon every 
calamitous event of life, it would tend greatly to 
strengthen the habit of acknowledging God in all 
our ways, and promote the spirit of devotion. 

In no other country, I believe, whatever, neither 
among the roman-catholics, nor mahometans, 
have people, even the most fashionable and polite, 
any idea of being ashamed of their religion. On 
the contrary, they are rather ostentatious of it, and 

there- 



224 ON HAJBITtTAL DEMOTION. 

therefore they seem to have more than they ate 
really possessed of ; and this is the case with some, 
both of the established church, and among the dis- 
senters in England. But, unfortunately, this out- 
ward shew of religion was carried to such a lengthy 
about a century ago, in this country, and was- 
some times made to subserve such infamous pur- 
poses, that, I believe, the greater part of the most 
sincerely pious, and humble christians, now make 
a point of exposing to the world, as little of the re- 
ligion they have as possible ; so that they are real- 
ly possessed of much more than they seem to have* 
This I trust is the case with great numbers, who 
are little suspected of being particularly religious, 
because they are seldom, or never heard to talk 
about it. And, upon the whole, while things are 
so unfortunately circumstanced, I think this ex- 
treme preferable to the other ; as, of all things, 
the reproach of hypocrisy ought ta he avoided with 
the utmost care* 

4. In a more especial manner, never fail to have 
recourse to God upon every occasion of strongs 
emotion of mind, whether it be of a pleasurable, 
or of a painful nature* When your mind is la- 
bouring under distressing doubts, and great anxi- 
ety, or when you are any way embarrassed in the. 

conduct 



ON HABITUAL DEVOTION. 



225 



*>f your affairs, fly to God, as your friend and 
father, your counsellor and your guide. In a sin- 
cere and earnest endeavour to discharge your du- 
ty, and to act the upright and honourable part, 
commit your way unto him, repose yourselves upon 
his providence, confiding in his care to over-i ule 
every thing for the best, and you will find a great, 
and almost instantaneous relief. Your perturba- 
tion of mind will subside, as by a charm, and the 
storm will become a settled calm. Tumultuous 
and excessive joy will also be moderated by this 
means ; and thus all your emotions will be render- 
ed more equable, more pleasurable, and more last- 
ing. And this is produced not by any supernatu- 
ral agency of God on the mind, but is the natural 
effect of placing entire confidence in a being of 
perfect wisdom and goodness. 

But the capital advantage you will derive from 
this practice will be, that the idea of God, being, 
by this means, associated with all the strongest 
emotions of your mind, your whole stock of devo- 
tional sentiments and feelings will be increased. 
AH those strong emotions, now separately indistin- 
guishable, will coalesce with the idea of God, and 
make part of the complex train of images suggest- 
ed by the term, so that you will afterwards think of 

Gcd 



£26 ON HABITUAL DEVOTION. 

God oftner, and with more fervor than before ; 
and the thought of him will have greater influence 
w ith you than ever. 

5. In order to cultivate the spirit of habitual 
devotion, labour to free your minds from all con- 
sciousness of guilt, and self-reproach, by means of 
a constant attention to the upright and steady dis- 
charge of the whole of your duty. In consequence 
of neglecting our duty, we become backward, as 
we may say, to make our appearance before God. 
We cannot look-up to him with full confidence of 
his favour and blessing ; and are, therefore, too 
apt to omit devotion entirely. Besides, we always 
feel an aversion to the exercise of self-abasement 
and contrition, w hich are all the sentiments that wq 
can with propriety indulge in those circumstances ; 
especially as we have a secret suspicion, that we 
shall, for some time at least, go on to live as we 
have done ; so that rather than confess our sins, 
and continue to live in them, we chuse not to make 
confession at ail. 

But this, my brethren, is egregious trifling, and 
highly dangerous. Thus, at best, all improvement 
is at a stand with us, if w r e be not going fatally 
backwards in our moral state. If this be our cha- 
racter (as I believe it is, more or less, that of a ve- 
ry 



#K HABITUAL DEVOTION. 227 

ry great number even of those I have called the 
better sort of the middle classes of men) let us in 
time, and in good earnest, cast off all our sins, ne- 
gligences, and follies by true repentance. Let 
us draw near, and acquaint ourselves with God, that 
we may be at peace. You can have no true peace, 
assurance, or satisfaction of mind in this life with- 
out it : for if you be of the class I am now refer- 
ing to, it is too late for you to have a perfect enjoy- 
ment of a life of sin and dissipation. And be- 
tween that kind of peace, or rather stupor, which 
those who are abandoned to wickedness, those who 
are wholly addicted to this world, and make it 
their sole end (or those who are grossly ignorant 
of religion) enjoy, and that inward peace and satis- 
faction which accompanies the faithful and earnest 
discharge of every known duty, there is no suffici- 
ent medium. You may go about seeking rest in 
, this wide space, while your hearts are divided be- 
tween God and the world, but you will find none ; 
whereas the fruit of righteousness, of a sincere and 
impartial, though imperfect obedience to the law of 
God, is peace and assurance for ever. 

Sixthly, and lastly. To facilitate the exercise 
of devotion, cultivate in your minds just ideas of 
God with whom you have to do upon those occa- 
sions. 



228 ON HABITUAL DEVOTION. 

slons, and divest your minds as far as possible, of 
all superstitious and dishonourable notions of him. 
Consider him as the good father of the prodigal 
son, in that excellent parable of our Saviour. Let 
it sink deep into your minds, as one of the most 
important of all principles, that the God with whom 
we have to do is essentially, of himself, and with- 
out regard to any foreign consideration whatever, 
abundant in mercy, not willing that any should pe- 
rish, ~but that he had rather that all should come to 
repentance; and then, notwithstanding you consi- 
der yourselves as frail, imperfect, and sinful crea- 
tures , and though you cannot help accusing your- 
selves of much negligence, folly, and vice, you 
may still approach him with perfect confidence 
in his readiness to receive, love, and cherish you, 
upon your sincere return to him. 

In this light our Lord Jesus Christ always re- 
presented his father and our father \ Ms God and 
our God, This is the most solid ground of conso- 
lation to minds burdened with a sense of guilt ; 
and, what is of great advantage, it is the most na- 
tural, the most easy, and intelligible of all others. 
If once you quit this firm hold, you involve your- 
selves in a system, and a labyrinth, in which you 
cither absolutely find no rest, and wander in un- 
certainly 



ON HABITUAL DEVOTION". 



229 



certainty and horror ; or if you do attain to any 
thing of assurance, it is of such a kind, and in such 
a manner, as can hardly fail to feed that spiritual 
pridey which will lead you to despise others ; nay, 
unless counteracted by other causes, too often 
ends in a spirit of censoriousness, hatred, and per- 
secution. 

Religious melancholy, the most deplorable of 
all the cases of melancholy, will never be effectu- 
ally relieved by any consideration, but that of the 
mercy and clemency of the Divine Being. This 
unhappy state of mind arises from superstition. It 
consists in an excessive and unreasonable fear of 
God, and is peculiarly incident to persons of the 
greatest tenderness of conscience. And if we con- 
sider nothing but the holiness of the divine nature, 
and our proneness to vice and folly, there will be 
no end of this distressing scrupulosity in the best- 
disposed minds. Bnfc, in our situation, we must 
learn to acquiesce in the sense of our manifold im- 
perfections, and the unavoidable consequences of 
them ; and to take refuge in the goodness and 
compassion of God, who considers our frame, and 
remembers that we are but dust. This is the part 
of humility. 

Q So 



250 ON HABITUAL DEVOTION^ 

So long as we are seeking to justify ourselves in 
the sight of God (unless our minds be absolutely 
blinded) we shall not Fail to condemn ourselves ; 
for there is not a man upon earth, not even the most 
just and righteous man, who doeth good and sinneth 
net. Yea, in many things we offend all: so that, 
if we should say we have no sin, we should deceive 
ourselves, and the truth would not he in us : but it 
is a never-failing source of consolation, that if we 
confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive 
us our sinSy and to cleanse us from all unrighte- 
ousness. 

Moreover, let it be considered, by persons la- 
bouring under this deplorable calamity, that this 
fear of displeasing God, and anxiety about our fu- 
ture state, is one of the best evidences we can have 
that our hearts are, upon the whole, right towards 
Qod ; that we are seeking first, and before all things 
else, the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and 
that we are not so much concerned about the bread 
that peris/ies, as about that which endures to ever- 
lasting life. Our Saviour said, Blessed are they 
that mourn, for they shall be comforted ; blessed are 
they that hunger and thirst after righteouness, for 
they shall be filled ; so that this excess of religious 
fear, producing despondence and melancholy, is a 

state 



TOtt ttABlfUAL JDEV^OTION. 



231 



state of greater safety, though it be less pleasing, 
than that of religious joy. 

This fear of God, when it has once exceeded 
its due bounds, and degenerated into superstition, 
and when it is not cured by a confidence in the 
divine mercy and clemency, by that love which 
tasteth out fear, is of a most alarming nature, and 
has often been productive of the most fatal effects. 
What is it that superstitious mortals have scru- 
pled either to do, or suffer, in order to recom- 
mend themselves to God ? Voluntary pains, and 
penalties, of the most frightful kinds, have not been 
spared for this purpose ; and men, like ourselves, 
yea, the excellent of the earth, men of %v horn the 
world was not worthy have been persecuted, and 
massacred, under the idea of doing God service. 

I shall, also, here give an admonition concerning 
another inconvenience which we are apt to be be- 
irayed into, by imperfect and unworthy concepts 
ons of God. It is that kind of enthusiasm, which 
arises from an excess of religious joy, as the super- 
stition I have just described arises from an excess 
of religious fear. It is well known, that, in the 
beginning of a religious life, persons of a warm 
temper of mind are apt to be carried away with ex- 
treme fervour. They are swelled with a tuniul- 

Q 2 tuous 



23f on habitual Devotion. 

tuous and rapturous joy, attended with great zeal 
in the discharge of their duty. But all this is of 
short continuance, and generally ends in a most 
unaccountable languor ', and even a total indifference 
about religion, which astonishes them, and which 
they are apt to consider as the consequences of the 
presence of God deserting them ; that peculiar pre* 
sence which they supposed to be the cause of the 
preceding fervour. Also, in this deadness to de- 
votional fervour, and indifference about religion, 
they are apt to imagine their former experience 
to have been an illusion. All religion, in that 
state of their minds, appears like a dream ; and 
they afterwards often fancy themselves to have 
been tempted by the devil, to disbelieve and re- 
nounce it all, natural and revealed. 

But the peculiar warmth of those emotions is 
owing to the novelty of them, together with a kind 
of familiarity in our conceptions of God, which 
leads to such a passionate joy, as we naturally in- 
dulge with respect to beings like ourselves. But 
more awful, and, on account of the preceding ex- 
cessive familiarity, too awful ideas of God will fol- 
low and check that fond transport. The emotion 
itself, having been above the usual tenor of the 
sensations, will of course subside, and the idea of 

God, 



ON HABITUAL DEVOTION". 233 

God, being as yet single, as we may say, and not 
associated with a sufficient variety of other objects, 
cannot long be retained in the mind, any more 
than any other single idea, unconnected with o- 
thers. Consequently, other objects, and trains of 
thought, which we have been before accustomed 
to, will force themselves upon the mind; and 
these, not having had any previous connexions 
with the ideas of God and religion, will exclude 
them, so that the former religious state of mind 
will as absolutely disappear, for a time, as if it had 
never existed* 

All this, however, is perfectly natural, and will 
pive no alarm to those who have a sufficient know 7 - 
ledge of human nature* In this case, a person 
who would favour his progress in religion should 
calmly acquiesce in the imperfection of his devo- 
tion. He should give himself, in the intervals of 
it,, to the steady prosecution of his lawful business, 
considering that as his proper duty, as serving 
mankind y and serving God, and therefore by no 
means foreign to religion ; depending upon it. that, 
if he only be careful to keep his conscience void of 
offence, his devotional feelings will return in due 
time. Let him then endeavour to purify and ex- 
alt his conceptions of God as much as possible ; 

Q3 for 



234 



ON HABITUAL DEVOTIOIT. 



for this will tend both to give him humiliating 
views of himself, and to make his pious emotions 
more composed, and more permanent. And, by 
degrees, by frequently endeavouring to raise his > 
views above the world, while he is employed in it, 
religion will come to be no longer the business of 
an hour, or of a limited time with him, but he 
will walk with God all the day long, and proceed 
in the path of his duty with a calm, and equal, a 
steady, and a persevering progress. 

I shall conclude this discourse with observing* 
that if a person should never experience any thing 
of this fervour of devotion, which I have been en- 
deavouring to describe and explain, I should by 
no means pronounce him the less safe on that ac- 
count. This fervour of devotion is in a manner 
incompatible with the constitution of same persons 
minds ; and an uniform care to glorify God in all 
our actions, and to preserve a conscience void of of 
fence towards God and towards all men, without 
any thing of that warmth of zeal and devotion, 
which often delights, but also often misleads 
others ; this, I say, will certainly be sufficient, ac- 
cording to the gracious constitution of the gospel, 
to entitle a person to that glorious recompence of re- 
ward, to that eternal life, which awaits all those 

who, 



OW HABITUAL DEVOTION. 235 



who, by nothing but patient continuance in well-do- 
ing, seek for glory, honour, and immortality. Our 
Saviour himself has assured us, that if a mandb the 
'will of God (he makes no other condition, he de- 
scribes no particular feeling) he shall be to him as 
a brother, a sister, or a mother. 

We well know, my christian brethren, what it 
is that the Lord our God requires of us, in order to 
live and to die in his favour, namely, to do justice, 
to love mercy, and to walk humbly with our God. 
To this plain path of duty, then, let us adhere, 
without being anxious about any thing farther. 
Whether we have those fervours of devotion, 
which some feel, and are apt to be proud of, or not, 
we shall experience that great peace of mind, which 
all those have who keep God's law ; and having 
lived the life of the righteous, our latter end will 
also be like his ; the foundation of our joy being 
the testimony of our consciences, that in simplicity, 
and godly sincerity, we have had our conversation 
in the world. 

It is true, we are imperfect, sinful creatures; 
but notwithstanding this, we have all possible en- 
couragement given us, to trust in the abundant 
mercy of our gracious God and father, in that 
mercy which is essential to his nature, as a Being 

Q4 who- 



236 ON" HABITUAL DEVOTION. 

who is infinitely good, and who is love itself ; and 
which, if we could entertain the least doubt con- 
cerning it, he fully declared to all the world, by 
Moses and the prophets, by Jesus Christ and his 
apostles ; whom he sent into the world to preach 
the grateful doctrine of repentence and remission of 
sins, thereby to redeem (i. e. to deliver J us from all 
iniquity, and to reconcile us to God. Animated, 
therefore, by the glorious promises of the gospel, 
let us, my christian brethren, be stedfast, immovea- 
ble, always abounding in the work of the Lord, 
blowing that our labour shall not finally be in vain 
in the Lord. 



THE 



237 

THE DUTY OF 

NOT 

LIVING TO OURSELVES. 



For none of us liveth to himself, and no man di- 
ethto himself Romans XIV. 7. 

It is the excellence of our rational nature that 
by it we are capable of living to some known end, 
and of governing our lives and conduct by some 
rule ; whereas brute creatures necessarily live and 
act at random, just as the present appetite influences 
them. Let us then, my brethren, make the most 
of this our perogative, by proposing to ourselves 
the noblest end of human life, and engaging in 
such a course of actions as will reflect the greatest 
honour upon our nature, and be productive of the 
most solid and lasting happiness, both in the per- 
formanca and review of them. 

Agreeably to this, let the principal use we make 
of our understanding be to discover what the great 

end 



138 



THE DTJ1 Y OF NOT 



end of life is ; and then let us use the resolution 
and fortitude that is either natural to us, or ac- 
quired by us, in steadily conforming ourselves to 
it. 

But as the regular investigation of the rule of 
life, from the light of nature only, may be tedious 
and perhaps at last unsatisfactory, let us, without 
waiting for the result of such an enquiry upon the 
principles of reason, take a more clear and sure 
guide, the holy scriptures, in so important a sub- 
ject, and see, afterwards, whether reason and ex- 
perience will not give their sanction to that deci- 
sion. 

The great end of human life is negatively ex- 
pressed by the apostle Paul in my text. None of 
us Vvoeth to himself and no man dieth to himself \ 
and, if we attend to the connection of these words, 
we shall find what, in the apostle's idea, is the true 
end to which men ought to live. 

The apostle is here treating of a controversy, 
which had arisen in the christian church, about the 
lawfulness of eating meat sacrificed to idols, and 
keeping holy certain days, together with some- 
other ceremonious observances, and exhorting 
both parties to do nothing that might give offence, 
or be a snare to the other, lest, by their means, any 

one 



LIVING TO OURSELVES. 



239 



one should perish for whom Christ died. 

As the best foundation for mutual tenderness 
and charity, he reminds them that both parties act- 
ed, with regard to all ritual observances, as they 
imagined was the will of Christ. He that observ- 
eth a day observe th it to the Lord ; and he that ob- 
serve th not a day, to the Lord he ob serve th it not. 
And after giving his sanction in the fullest man- 
ner to this maxim, and deciding, with respect to 
this particular case, that all christians ought to act 
according to the will of Christ, and consult the 
good and the peace of their fellow-christians, he 
declares in general, that no man liveth to himself, 
and no man dieth to himself ; but whether we live, 
we live unto the Lord, or whether we die, we die 
unto the Lord ; that is, in all our actions our views 
should not be directed to ourselves, but to the in- 
terest of our holy religion. And as the christian 
religion has for its object the happiness of mankind 
(since Christ came to bless us in turning us away 
from our iniquities) it is the same thing as if he had 
said, the great scope of all our conduct should be 
the real welfare of all to whom our influence can 
extend. 

We should therefore, my brethren, according 
to this apostolical maxim, by no means confine our 

regards 



MO 



THE DUTY OF NOT 



regards to ourselves, and have our own pleasure, 
profit, or advantage in view in every thing we un- 
dertake ; but look out of, and beyond ourselves, 
and take a generous concern in the happiness of all 
our brethren of mankind, making their sorrows our 
sorrows, their joys our joys, and their happiness 
our pursuit : and it is in this disinterested conduct, 
and in this only, that we shall find our own true 
happiness. 

That this is the true rule of human life, will 
appear, whether we consider the course of nature 
without us, the situation of mankind in this world, 
or take a nearer view of the principles of human 
nature. And we shall likewise find, that several 
considerations drawn from the holy scriptures will 
farther confirm and illustrate this maxim of human 
conduct which was first suggested by them. 

1. This disinterested conduct of man is most 
agreeable to the course of nature without us. There 
Is no part of the creation but, if it be viewed at- 
tentively, will expose the selfishness and narrow- 
mindedness of men. For among all that infinite 
variety of things and creatures which present them- 
selves to our view, not one of them appears to have 
been made merely for itself, but every thing bears 
a relation to something else. They can hardly be 

said 



LIVING TO OURSELVES. 241 

said to afford any matter for contemplation singly, 
and are most of all the objects of our admiration 
when considered as connected with other things. 
The primary uses of things are few-, but the secon- 
dary uses of every thing are almost infinite. In- 
deed the secondary uses of things are so many, 
that we are lost in the multiplicity of them ; where- 
as we can give no answer, if we be asked what is 
the primary use of any thing, but this general one, 
which will equally suit every thing, that every 
creature which is capable of happiness was made 
to enjoy that share of it which is suited to its? 
nature. 

Now w'hat do we mean when we say that the 
several parts of nature are adapted to one another, 
but that they are made for the use of one another. 
I shall mention only a few of these mutual relati- 
ons, and uses, beginning with those parts of nature 
which are the most remote from one another, and 
whose mutual relations and uses are the least obvi- 
ous, and proceeding to those in which they are 
more obvious. The sun, the moon, the planets, 
and comets, are strictly connected, and combined 
into one system. Each body, though so exceed- 
ingly remote from the rest, is admirably adapted, 
by its situation, magnitude, and velocity in its 

orbit, 



242 



THE DUTY OF NOT 



orbit, to the state of the whole, in those respects 
and many others. This connexion, probably, also 
extends to the remotest bodies in the universe : so 
that it is impossible to say, that the withdrawing 
of any one would not, in some respect or other, af- 
fect all the rest. 

The clouds and the rain are designed to moisten 
the earth, and the sun to warm it ; and the texture 
and juices of the earth are formed so as to receive 
the genial influences of both, in order to ripen and 
bring- to perfection that infinite variety of plants and 
fruits, the seeds of which are deposited in it. A- 
gain, is not each plant peculiarly adapted to its pro- 
per soil and climate, so that every country is fur- 
nished with those productions which are peculiar- 
ly suited to it ? Are not all plants likewise suited 
to the various kinds of animals which feed upon 
them ; so that, though they enjoy a kind of life 
peculiar to themselves, and all the influences they 
are exposed to be adapted to promote that life, 
they themselves are as much adapted to maintain 
that higher kind of life which is enjoyed by crea- 
tures of the animal nature ? 

The various kinds of animals are again, in a 
thousand ways, adapted to, and formed for, the use 
of one another. Beasts of a fiercer nature prey 

upon 



LIVING TO OURSELVES. 



243 



upon the tamer cattle : fishes of a larger size live 
almost wholly upon those of a less : and there are 
some birds which prey upon land-animals, others 
upon fishes, and others upon creatures of their 
own species. 

That brute animals are excellently adapted to 
the use of man, and were, therefore, made to be 
subservient to the use of man, man will not deny, 
The strength of some, and the sagacity of others, 
are as much at our command, and are as effectu- 
ally employed for our use, as if they belonged to 
ourselves. We can even turn to our advantage 
every passion of their nature \ so that we can safely 
repose the greatest confidence in many of them. 
They are the guardians of our possessions and of 
our lives. They even enter into our resentments, 
and, at our instigation, take part in our revenge. 

Having now advanced to man, the chief of this 
lower creation, and shewn that all creatures of the 
vegetable, and merely animal nature, live and die 
for his use ; pride might bid us here break off the 
chain of mutual relations and uses, which we have 
been pursuing thus far, and leave man in the en- 
joyment of his superiority ; but beside that it is 
contrary to the analogy of nature, in which we see 
nothing but what has innumerable secondary rela- 
tions 



244 



THE DUTY OF NOT 



lions and uses, that man only should be made for 
himself ; 

2. The situation of man in this world, or the 
external circumstances of human nature still oblige 
us to assert, with Paul, that no man Iheth to k . . « 
self, and no man dieth to himself. Man - ■< if is 
but a link, though the highest link, of this great 
chain, all the parts of which are closely connect d 
by the hand of our divine author. Nay, the more 
various and extensive are our powers, either for ac- 
tion or enjoyment, on that very account the more 
multiplied and extensive are our wants : so that, 
at the same time that they are marks of our superi- 
or^ to, they are bonds of our connection with, 
and signs of our dependence upon, the various 
parts of the world around us, and of our subservi- 
ence to one another. 

In fact, every time that we gratify any of our 
senses, though it be in consequence of the exerti- 
on of our own powers, we are reminded (if we will 
be so just to ourselves as to take the hint) of our 
dependence upon something without us. For the 
means of our gratifications are, in all cases, evi- 
dently without ourselves. 

If we be served by the vegetables and the animals 
which this earth affords, we are obliged, in our 

turn. 



I2VINC TO OVRSELVES-. 



turn, to favour their propagation, to promote their 
cultivation, and to preserve them in a healthy and 
vigorous state : and employment of this kind doth, 
in fact, take up a great part of our attention and 
labour. We must make the creature in some mea- 
sure happy, if we would be effectually served by it. 
And the attention which domestic animals give to 
us, and their anxiety for us, is not to be compared 
to the attention we bestow 7 on them, and the anxi- 
ety we undergo on their account. 

But my subject leads me to attend to the con- 
nexion which man has with man, rather than with 
the inferior part of the creation ; though it seemed 
not improper to point cut that. In general, no- 
thing can be more obvious than the mutual de- 
pendence of men on one another. We see it in the 
most barbarous countries, where the connexions 
of mankind are the fewest and the slightest. This 
dependence is more sensible, indeed, in a state of 
infancy, when the least remission of the care of 
others would be fatal to us; but it is as real and 
necessary, and even vastly more extensive, though 
less striking, when we are more advanced in life, 
especially in civilized countries. And the more 
perfect is the state of civil society, the more vari- 
ous and extended are the connexions which man 

R has 



246 



THE DUTY OF NOT 



has with man, and the less able is he to subsist 
confortably without the help of others. 

The business of human life, where it is enjoyed 
in perfection, is subdivided into so many parts 
(each of which is executed by different hands) that 
-a. person who would reap the benefit of all the arts 
of life in perfection must employ, and consequent- 
ly be dependent upon thousands : he must even 
be under obligations to numbers of whom he has 
mot the least knowledge. 

These connexions of man with man are every- 
day growing more extensive. The most distant 
parts of the earth are now connected : every part is 
every day growing still more necessary to every 
other part. And the nearer advances we make to 
general happiness, and the more commodious our 
circumstances in this world are made for us, the 
more intimately and extensively we become con- 
nected with, and the more closely we are depen- 
dent upon, one another. 

By thus tracing the progress of man to that state 
of happiness which he now enjoys, we may be led 
to think, that, in pursuing it still farther to a more 
happy state of being, adapted to our social natures, 
we shall find ourselves still more variously and in- 
timately connected with, and more closely depen- 
dent 



LIVING TO OURSELVES. 24? 

ttent upon, one another ; which affords a far nobler 
'and more pleasing prospect to a person of an en- 
larged mind, and of a social and benevolent dispo* 
sition, than he could have from supposing, that af- 
ter death all our mutual connexions will be broken, 
and that every good man will be made transcen* 
dently happy within himself, having no intercourse, 
or, however, no necessary intercourse with any be* 
ing beside his maker. 

By these arguments, which are drawn from facts 
that are obvious to every person who attends to the t " 
external circumstances of mankind, it is plain that 
no man can live of himself ; and even that the rich 
are, in fact, more dependent upon others than the 
poor ; for, having more wants, they have occasion 
for more, and more frequent supplies. Now it 
will easily be allowed, that every reason why we 
cannot live of ourselves, is an argument why we 
ought not to live to ourselves : for certainly no 
person receives an obligation, but he ought to con- 
fer one. Every connexion must, in some mea- 
sure, be mutual, And, indeed, the circulation of 
good offices would in a great measure cease, if the 
passage were not as open, and as free from obstruc- 
tion, in one part of the common channel as another. 
The rich, if they would receive the greatest advan- 

R % tages 



24-8 



THE DU1 T OF If OT 



tages from society, must contribute to the happi- 
ness of it. If they act upon different maxims, and 
think to avail themselves of the pleasures of socie- 
ty without promoting the good of it, they will ne- 
ver know the true pleasures of society. And, in 
the end, they will be found to have enjoyed the 
least themselves, who have least contributed to the 
enjoyment of others. 

Thus it appears from a view of the external cir- 
cumstances of mankind, that man was <not made 
to live to himself. The same truth may be in- 
ferred, 

3. From a nearer inspection of the principles 
of human nature, and the springs of human actions. 

If any man look into himself, and consider the 
springs and motives of his own actions, he will 
find that there are principles in his nature which 
would be of no use, were the intercourse he has 
with his fellow-creatures cut off : for that both the 
efficient and final causes of their operations are 
without himself. They are views of mankind, 
and their situations, which call those principles 
into action. And if we trace the operation of them, 
we shall clearly see that, though they be strictly 
connected with private happiness, their ultimate 
and proper object is the happiness of society. 

What 



LIVING TO OURSELVES. 



249 



What other account can we give of that im- 
pulse, which we all, more or less, feel for society f 
And whence is that restless and painful dissatis- 
faction which a man feels when he is Ions: exclud- 
es 

ed from it, but that, if such a solitary condition,, 
his faculties have not their proper exercise, and he 
is, as it were, out of his proper element ? 

Whence is that quick sensibility which we are 
conscious of with respect to both the joys and the 
sorrows of our fellow-creatures, if their happiness 
or misery were a matter of indifference to us ? Can 
we feel what is sometimes called the contagion of 
thepassiens, when we find that our minds contract 
a kind of gloom and heaviness in the company of 
the melancholy, and that this melancholy vanishes 
in. company which is innocently chearful, and 
question the influence of social connexions ? Much 
less can the reality or the power of the social prin- 
ciple be doubted when a fellow-creature in distress 
calls forth the most exquisite feelings of compassi- 
on, attended with instant and strong efforts towards 
his relief. 

So essential a part of our nature are these social 
passions, that it is impossible for any man wholly 
to escape the influence of them; but if we would 
be witness of their strongest effects, and see them, 

R % branched 



250 



THE DUTY OF NOT 



branched out into that beautiful subordination 
which corresponds to all the varieties of our mutu- 
al relations, we must look into domestic life. 
There we shall clearly see that the most frequent 
and almost the only cause of a man's joys and sor- 
rows are the joys and sorrows'of odiers, and that the 
immediate aim of all his actions is the well-being 
and happiness of others. 

Doth not the sense of honour in the human 
breast derive all its force from the influence which 
social connexions have over us? Of what use 
couldk be but to beings formed for society ? What 
do we infer from our dread of infamy, and from 
our being so strongly actuated by a passion for 
fame, and also from the universality and extent of 
this principle, but that our nature obliges us to 
keep up a regard to others in our whole^onduct, 
and that the author of nature intended we should ? 
And is it not a farther evidence of the ultimate de- 
sign of this principle, that, in general, the means 
of being distinguished, at least of gaining a solid 
and lasting reputation, among men, is to be useful 
to mankind ; public utility being the most direct 
road to true fame t 

Every noble and exalted faculty of our nature is 
either directly of a social nature, or tends to 

strengthen 



LFVTNG TO OURSELVES. 151" 

strengthen the social principle. Nothing can be 
more evident than that the dictates of conscience 
strongly enforce the practice of benevolence : and, 
the pleasures of benevolence certainly constitute, 
the greatest part of those pleasures which we refer 
to the moral sense. They must necessarily do so,, 
while the foundation of all virtue and right conduct 
is the happiness of society : for then every reflexi- 
on that we have done our duty must be the same, 
thing as a reflexion that we have contributed what 
was in our power to the good of our fellow-crea- 
tures. 

Lastly, of what doth devotion itself consist, but 
the exercise of the social afiections ? What are the 
dispositions of our minds which are called forth 
into action in private or public prayer, but reve-.. 
rcnce for true greatness, humility, gratitude, love; 
and confidence in God, as the greatest and best of 
Beings ; qualities of the most admirable use and 
effect in social life ? 

I may add, that not only are the highest and the 
worthiest principles of human conduct either truly 
social, or a reinforcement of the social principle,, 
but even the lowest appetites and passions of our 
nature are far from being indifferent to social con- 
nexions, considerations, and influences. That the 

R 4 plea- 



252 



THE BUTT OF WOT 



pleasures wc receive from the fine arts, as those 
of music, poetry, and painting, and the like, are 
enjoyed but very imperfectly except in company, 
is very evident to all persons who have the least 
taste for those pleasures. I may even venture to 
say, that there is hardly a voluptuary, the most de- 
voted to the pleasures of the table, but indulges 
himself with more satisfaction in company thar* 
alone. 

Having given this general view of the social turtt 
©f our whole natures, whereby we are continually 
led out of ourselves in our pursuit of happiness - y 
I shall now consider farther, how all our appetites 
and passions, which are the springs of all our ac- 
tions, do, in their own nature, tend to lead us out 
of ourselves, and how much our happiness depends 
upon our keeping their proper objects in view, 
and upon our minds being thereby constantly en- 
gaged upon something foreign to themselves ; af- 
ter which I shall shew what are the fittest objects 
thus to engage our attention. 

In order to preserve mutual connexion, depen* 
dence, and harmony among all his works, it has 
pleased our divine author to appoint, that all our 
appetites and desires, to whatever sense, external 
or internal, they be referred, should point to some- 
thing 



LIVING TO OURSELVES. 



253 



thing beyond ourselves for their gratification ; so 
that the idea of self is not in the least necessary to a 
state of the highest enjoyment. 

When may men be said to be happy, but when 
their faculties are properly exercised in the pursuit 
of those things which give them pleasure ? I say 
the pursuit rather than the enjoy ment,Fnot because 
enjoyment makes no part of our happiness, but 
because the vigorous and agreeable sensations 
with which our minds are impressed during the 
pursuit of a favourite object are generally, at least 
in this life, of vastly more consideration. The 
pleasure we receive the instant we arrive at the 
height of our wishes may be more exquisite, but 
the others are of much longer continuance ; and, 
immediately upon the gratification of any of our 
desires, the mind is instantly reaching after some 
new object. 

Supposing now the mind of any person to be 
fully and constantly engaged in the pursuit of a 
proper object, to the possession of which he is sen- 
sible he every day makes near approaches, and his 
desires be not so eager as to make him uneasy dur- 
ing the pursuit, what more is requisite to make 
him as happy as his nature can bear ? He will not 
be the less happy because the object he is in pur- 
suit 



254 



THE DUTY OF NOT 



suit of is foreign to himself ; nor would it make 
him any happier to have the idea of its contribut- 
ing to his happiness. Nay it may be shewn, that 
it would be better for us, in general, with respect 
to real enjoyment, never to have the idea of the 
relation which the objects of our pursuit bear to* 
ourselves : and this is most of all evident with re- 
spect to the higher pleasures of our nature, from 
\vhich we derive our greatest happiness. 

Our benevolence, for instance, leads us imme- 
diately to relieve and oblige others. Pleasure, in- 
deed, always attends generous actions, and is con- 
sequent upon them ; but the satisfaction we re- 
ceive in our minds from having done kind offices 
to others is far less pure, and less perfectly enjoyed,, 
if at all, when we had this, or any other private 
gratification in view before the action. 

In like manner, he who courts applause, and 
does worthy actions solely with a view to obtain it, 
can have no knowledge of the genuine pleasure 
arising either from the good action itself, or the 
applause that is given to it ; because he is sensi- 
ble, in his own mind, that if those persons who 
praise his conduct were acquainted with the real 
motive of it, and knew that he meant nothing 
more, by his pretended acts of piety and benevo- 
lence, 



LIVING TO OVRSILVES' 255 

lence, than to gain their applause, they would be 
so far from admiring and commending, that they 
would despise him for it. 

It is evident, for the same reason, that no person 
can enjoy the applause of his own mind, on the 
account of any action which he did with a view to 
gain it. The pleasures of a good conscience, or, 
as they are sometimes called, those of the moral 
sense, cannot be enjoyed but by a person who stea- 
dily obeys the dictates of his conscience, and uni- 
formly acts the part which he thinks to be right, 
without any view to the pleasure and self-satisfac- 
tion which may arise from it. 

The idea of self, as it is not adapted to gratify 
any of our appetites, and can contribute nothing 
towards their gratification, can only occasion anx- 
iety, fear, and distrust about our happiness, when 
it is frequently the subject of our thoughts. The 
apprehension and dread of misery (which is cer- 
tainly the occason of most of the real trouble and 
misery of men in this life) is beyond measure in- 
creased from this source : and the effects of it are 
most sensibly felt both in the less and greater 
scenes of our lives. 

It is chiefly an anxious solicitude about our- 
selves, ond the appearance we shall make in the 

eyes 



256 THE DUTY OF NOT 

eyes of others, which is the cause of that affectati- 
on and constraint in behaviour which is so trouble- 
some to a person's self, and so ridiculous in the 
eyes of others. This trilling remark, being so fre- 
quently verified, may serve to siiew that these 
sentiments are by no means merely speculative i 
but that they enter into the daily scenes of active 
life. Indeed they are in the highest sense practi- 
cal, md upon them depend those maxims of con- 
duct, which contain the great secret of human hap- 
piness, and which are confirmed by every day's 
experience. 

That the idea of self frequently occurring to our 
Kiinds m our pursuit of happiness is often a real 
and great obstruction to it, will be more obvious 
from a short series of plain facts and examples,, 
which I shall therefore mention. 

Why are brute creatures, in general, so con- 
tented and happy in their low sphere of life, and 
ranch more so than the mind of man could be ia 
their situation ? Is it not because their views are 
perpetually fixed upon some object within their 
reach, adapted to their desires ; and that the ab- 
stract idea of self together with the notion of their 
being in the pursuit of happiness, and liable to be 
disappointed in that pursuit, never comes in their 

way, 



LIVING TO OURSELVES. 



257 



way, to interrupt the uniform and pleasurable ex- 
ertion of their faculties in the pursuit of their pro- 
sper objects. 

The days of our infancy are happy for the same 
reason, notwithstanding the imperfection of our 
faculties, and the greater proportion of pains and 
disorders we are then liable to. Those years of 
our lives slide away in unmixed enjoyment ; ex- 
cept when they are interrupted by the actual 
sensations of pain : for #e are then incapable of 
suffering any thing from the fear of evil. It is 
not 'till after a considerable time that we get the 
abstract idea of self ; an idea, which the brutes, 
probably, never arrive at, and which is of excel- 
lent use to us, as will be shewn in its proper place, 
in our pursuit of happiness, but is often abused to 
the great increase of our misery, as will appear by 
the facts we are now considering. 

Why are persons whose situation in life obliges 
them to constant labour, either of body or mind, 
generally more happy than those whose circum- 
stances do not lay them under a necessity to la- 
bour, and whose own inclination does not lead 
them to it ; but because the former have their 
thoughts constantly employed in the pursuit of 
some end, which keeps their faculties awake, and 

fully 



ESS THE DUTY OF NOT 

fully exerted ? And this is always attended with a 
state of vigorous, and consequently pleasurable 
sensations. Persons thus employed have not much 
leisure to attend to the idea of self, and that anxi- 
ety which always attends the frequent recurring of 
it ; whereas a person who has no object foreign to 
himself, which constantly and necessarily engages 
his attention, cannot have his faculties fully exert- 
ed; and therefore his mind cannot possibly be in 
*hat state of vigorous sensation in which happiness 
consists. 

The mind of such a person, having nothing 
without him sufficient to engage its attention, turns 
upon itself. He feels he is not happy, but he sees 
not the reason of it* This again excites his won- 
ders, vexation, and perplexity. He tries new ex- 
pedients ; but, as these are only temporary, and 
generally whimsical choices, none of them have 
sufficient power to fix and confine his attention. 
He is still perpetually thinking about himself, and 
' wondering and uneasy that he is not happy. This 
anxious perplexed state of mind, affecting the 
nervous system, necessarily occasions a more irri- 
table state of the nerves, and of the brain, which 
makes the unhappy person subject to more fre- 
quent alarms, to greater anxiety and distress than 

before ; 



"LIVING TO OURSELVES. 259 

before ; 'till, these mental and bodily disorders 
mutually increasing one another, his condition is 
at length the most wretched and distressing that 
can be conceived. No bodily pain, no rack, no 
torture, can equal the misery and distress of a hu- 
man being whose mind is thus a prey to itself. 
No wonder that, in this situation, many persons 
wish the utter extinction of their being, and often 
put a period to their lives. 

This is certainly the most deplorable situation 
to which a human being can be reduced in this 
world, and is doubly the object of our compassi- 
on, when the disorder has its seat originally in the 
body, in such a manner, as that no endeavours to 
engage a man's thought upon other objects can force 
his attention from himself. 

It is no wonder that we see more of this kind of 
unhappiness in the higher ranks of life, and among 
persons who are in what is called easy circumstances 
than in any other. Indeed, the case is hardly pos- 
sible in any other than in easy circumstances : for 
did a man's circumstances really find constant em- 
ployment for his thoughts, were his business so 
urgent as to leave him no leisure for suspence and 
^uncertainty what to do, it is plain, from the preced- 
ing principles, that such anxiety and distress could 

not 



250 THE DUTY OF NOT 

not take place. It is well known that the mind 
suffers more in a state of uncertainty and sus- 
pense, for want of some motive to determine a 
man's choice, than he can suffer in the vigorous 
prosecution of the most arduous undertaking. I 
appeal to men of leisure, and particularly to persons 
who are naturally of an active and enterprising dis- 
position, for the truth of this fact. 

These principles likewise, as is evident without 
entering into a detail of particulars, furnish us with 
a good reason why we generally see fathers and 
mothers of large families infinitely more easy, 
chearful, and happy, than those persons who have 
no family-connexions. The greater aiSuence, ease, 
and variety of pleasures which these can command 
(subject to the inconveniences I have mentioned* 
and which are commonly visible enough in the 
case I refer to) are a poor equivalent for the neces- 
sary, constant, and vigorous exertion of their facul- 
ties, and consequently the strong sensations, and 
lively enjoyments, which a variety of family-cares, 
conjugal and parental tenderness, supply for the 
ethers. 

This would be the case universally, where large 
families could subsist, if the parents had sufficient 
employment, and if an early-acquired taste for 

superflUf 



UVXNG TP OURSELVES. 261 



■superfluities had not taken too deep root in their 
minds. 

Happy is it for the world, and a great mark of 
the wisdom and goodness of divine providence, 
that men's minds are so constituted, that though 
they be in easy circumstances,- they are never com- 
pletely satisfied. The passions of most 0 men are 
still engaging them in a variety of pursuits, in 
which they are as eager, and which they prosecute 
with as much alacrity and earnestness, as if neces- 
sity compelled thetn to it. Otherwise, every per- 
son who could live easy would be inevitably mi- 
serable. 

Infinitely happier would it be for themselves, .and 
for the worjc}, if #11 their pursuits were such as 
would give them satisfaction upon the reflection as 
well as in the pursuit, and be of real advantage to 
jthe rest of mankind ; which two circumstances 
never fail to coincide. However, with regard to 
a person's self in this life, any end is unspeakably 
better than no end at all : and such is the wise ap- 
pointment of providence, that bad ends tend, in .a 
variety of ways, to check and defeat themselves, and 
to throw the minds of men into better, nobler, and 
more satisfactory pursuits ; a consideration,, which 
cannot fail to suggest, to a benevolent and pious 

S mind, 



262 



THE DUTY Of NOT 



mind, a prospect of a future happy and glorious 
state of things. 

It may be said, that if happiness consist in, or 
depend upon the exertion of our faculties upon 
some object foreign to ourselves, it is a matter of 
indifference what the object be. I answer that dur- 
ing the pursuit it is nearly so, and universal expe- 
rience, I imagine, will justify the observation. 
This is the reason why we see men equally eager, 
and equally happy in the pursuit of a variety of 
things which appear trifling to one another. Thus 
the florist, the medalist, and critic, the antiquary, 
and every adept in the minuter branches of sci- 
ence, all enjoy equal happiness in the pursuit of 
their several objects ; and as much as the histori- 
an, the astronomer, the moralist, or the divine, who 
refers his nobler studies to no higher end, and iq 
whom they only serve as an exercise of his facul- 
ties. 

But though an eager pursuit tends to keep the 
mind in a state of vigorous and lively sensation, 
that pursuit can only give us the maximum, the 
highest possible degree, of happiness, which has 
the following characters. It must be attended with 
the probability of success, consequently it must be 
generally successful ; and it must also terminate 
v in 



LIVING TO OURSELVES. 263 



in such gratifications as are least inconsistent with 
themselves, or with the other gratifications of which 
our nature makes us capable. And it may be de- 
monstrated (though I shall not undertake to do it 
parti cularly in this place) that no pursuits answer 
to this description but those in which the love of 
mankind, the love of God, or the dictates of con- 
science, engage us. 

For in all other pursuits, such as those of sensu- 
al pleasure, the pleasures of imagination, and am- 
bition, we are liable to frequent disappointments ; 
the gratifications in which they terminate are in- 
consistent with themselves, and with each other ; 
and they almost entirely deaden and disqualify the 
mind for the nobler pleasures of our nature. It is 
the love of God, the love of mankind, and a sense 
of duty which engage the minds of men in the 
noblest of all pursuits. By these we are carried on 
with increasing alacrity and satisfaction. Even 
the pains and distresses in which we involve our- 
selves by these courses are preferable to the plea- 
sures attending the gratification of our lower ap- 
petites. 

Besides, these noble pursuits, generally at least, 
allow us even more of the lower gratifications of 
our nature than Can be obtained by a direct pursuit 

S2 of 



264 THE DUTY OF NOT - 

of them. For a little experience will inform u$ f 
that we receive the most pleasure from these low- 
er appetites of our nature, as well from the high- 
est sources of pleasure which we are capable of, 
tvhen we have their gratification least of all in 
view. There can be no doubt, for instance, but 
that the labourer, who eats and drinks merely to 
satisfy the calls of hunger and thirst, has vastly 
rhore pleasure in eating and drinking than the epi- 
-cure who studies the pleasing of hispalate. 

They are the pleasures of benevolence and piety 
^which most effectually carry us out of ourselves % 
whereas every other inferior pursuit suggests to us, 
in a thousand respects, the idea of self] the unsea- 
sonable intervention of which may be called' the 
worm which lies at the root of all human bliss. And 
never can we be completely happy, 'tiii we love the 
Lord our God with all our heart, with all our soul, 
with all our mind, and with all our strength ; and 
"our neighbour us oursehes. 

This is the christian self-annihilation, mid a state 
of tli e most complete happiness to which our na- 
tures can attain , when, without having the least 
idea of being in the pursuit of our own happiness, 
our faculties are wholly absorbed in those noble 
and exalted pursuits, in which we are sure not to 

be 



LIVING TO OVRSELVES* 565 



be' finally disappointed, and in the course of which 
we enjoy all the consistent pleasures of our whole 
nature. When, rejoicing with all that rejoice, 
weeping with all that weep, and intimately associ- 
ating the idea of God, the maker of all things, our 
father and our friend, with all the works of his 
hands, and all the dispensations of his providence, 
we constantly triumph in the comfortable sense of 
the divine presence and approbation, and in the 
transporting prospect of advancing every day near- 
er to the accomplishment, of his glorious purposes 
for the happiness of his creatures. 

If this be the proper and supreme happiness of 
man, it may be asked, Of what use is the principle 
of self-interest? I answer, that though an attention 
to it be inconsistent with pure unmixed happiness, 
yet a moderate attention to it is of excellent use in 
our progress towards it. It serves as a scaffold to a 
noble and glorious edifice, though it be unworthy 
of standing as any part of it. It is of more par- 
ticular use to check and restrain the indulgence of 
our lower appetites and passions, before other ob- 
jects and motives have acquired a sufficient power 
over us. But though we ought, therefore, to ex- 
hort those persons who are immersed in sensuality 
and grosa vices, to abandon those indulgences out 

S3 of 



266 THE DUTY OF NOT 

of a regard to their true interest, it is advisable to 
withdraw this motive by degrees. However, as we 
shall never arrive at absolute perfection, we neces- 
sarily must, and indeed ought to be influenced by 
it more or less through the whole course of our 
existence, only less and less perpetually. 

The principle of self-interest may be regarded as 
a medium between the lower and the higher prin- 
ciples of our nature, and therefore, of principal use 
in our transition, as we may call it, from an im- 
perfect to a more perfect state. 

Perhaps the following view of this subject may 
be the easier to us. A regard to our greatest hap- 
piness must necessarily govern our conduct with 
respect to all those virtues which are termed private 
virtues, as temperance, chastity, and every branch 
of self-government : but it always does harm as a 
motive to the social virtues. When, therefore, self- 
government, which is our first step towards happi- 
ness, is established ; we ought to endeavour to ex- 
cite men to action by higher and nobler motives. 
For, with regard to all those virtues, the ultimate 
object of which is not private happiness, an at- 
tention to self-interest is of manifest prejudice to 

us ; and this through the whole course of our 

lives, 



LIVING TO OURSELVES. 



267 



lives, imperfect as we are, and as much occasion 
as we have for every effectual motive to virtue. 

We are now come, in the last place, to see what 
considerations drawn from the holy scriptures will 
farther confirm and illustrate this maxim of hu- 
man conduct which was first suggested by them. 

That the scriptures join the voice of all nature 
around us, informing man that he is not made for 
himself ; that they inculcate the same lesson which 
we learn both from a view of the external circum- 
stances of mankind, and also from a nearer inspec- 
tion of the principles of human nature, will be evi- 
dent whether we consider the object of the religion 
they exhibit (that is, the temper to which we are 
intended to be formed by it) or the motives by 
which it is enforced and recommended to us in 
them. 

That the end and design of our holy religion, 
christians, was to form us to the most disinterested 
benevolence cannot be doubted by any person who 
consults the holy scriptures, and especially the 
books of the New- Testament. 

There we plainly see the principle of benevo- 
lence represented, when it is in its due strength 
and degree, as equal in point of intenseness to that 
of self-love. Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thy 

S4 selfl 



268 



THE rftTTY 0£ NOT 



eslf. The plain consequence of this is, that* if all? 
our brethren of mankind With whom we are con- 
nected have an equal claim upon us (since our 
connexions are daily growing more extensive, and 
we ourselves are consequently growing daily of less 
relative importance in our own eyes) the principle" 
of benevolence must in the end absolutely swallow 
up that of self-love. 

The most exalted demotion, as even superior 
both to self-love and benevolence, is* always every' 
where recommended to us ; and the sentiments 
of devotion have been shewn greatly to aid, and, 
in fact, to be the same with those of benevolence : 
alid they must be so, unless it can be shewn that 
we Have some senses, powers, or faculties which 
respect the Deity only. 

In order to determine men to engage in a course 
of disinterested and generous actions, every motive 
which is calculated to work upon human nature is 
employed. And as mankind in general are deeply 
immersed in vice and folly, their hopes, but more 
especially their fears, are acted upon in the strong- 
est manner by the prospect of rewards and punish- 
ments. Even temporal rewards and punishments 
were proposed to mankind in the earlier and ruder 
ages of the world. But ast Our notions of happU 

ness 



LIVING TO OURSELVES. 26£ 

ness grow more enlarged, infinitely greate r, but in- 
definite objects -of hope and fear are set before us. 
Something unknown, but something unspeakably 
dreadful in a future world is perpetually held up to 
us, as a guard against the allurements to vice ancf 
excess which the world abounds- with. And still 
farther to counteract their baleful influences, the 
heavenly world (the habitation of good men after 
death) is represented to us as a place in which we 
shall be completely happy, enjoying something 
which is described as more than eye hath seen, ear 
heard, or than the heart of man can conceive. 

These motives are certainly addressed to the 
principle of self-interest, urging us out of a re- 
gard to ourselves, and our general happiness, to 
cease to do evil, and learn to do well. And, indeed, 
no motives of a more generous nature, and drawn 
from more distant considerations can be supposed 
sufficient to influence the bulk of mankind, and 
bring them from the power of sin, and Satan, wm 
God. 

But when, by the influence of these motives, it 
niay be supposed that mankind are in some mea- 
sure recovered from the grosser pollutions of the 
• world, and the principle of self-interest has been 
played, as it were, against itself, and been a means 

of 



270 



THE DUTY OF NOT 



of engaging us in a course and habit of actions 
which are necessarily connected with, and produc- 
tive of more generous and noble principles, then 
these nobler principles are these h hich the sacred 
writers chiefly inculcate. 

Nothing is more frequent with the sacred wri- 
ters, than to exhort men to the practice of their du- 
ty as the command of God, from a principle of 
love to God, of love to Christ, and of love to man- 
kind, more especially of our fellow- christians ; and 
from a regard to the interest of our holy religion : 
motives which do not at all turn the attention of 
our minds upon themselves. This is not borrow- 
ing the aid of self-love to strengthen the principles 
of benevolence and piety ; but it is properly de- 
riving additional strength to these noble dispositi- 
ons, as it were, from within themselves, indepen- 
dent of foreign considerations. 

We may safely say, that no degree or kind of 
self-love is made use of in the scriptures, but what 
is necessary to raise us above that principle. And 
some of the more refined kinds of self-love, how 
familiar soever they may be in some systems of 
morals, never come in sight there. We are never 
exhorted in the scriptures to do benevolent actions 
for the sake of the reflex pleasures of benevolence, 

or 



LIVING TO OURSELVES. 



271 



©r pious actions with a view to the pleasures of 
devotion. This refined kind of self-love is no 
where to be found in the scriptures. 

Even the pleasures of a good conscience, though 
they be of a more general nature, and there be less 
refinement in them than in some other pleasures 
which are connected with the idea of self, and 
though they be represented in the scriptures as the 
consequence of good actions, 2nd a source of joy, 
as a testimony of a person's being in the favour of 
God, and in the way to happiness, are perhaps ne- 
ver directly proposed to us as the reward of virtue. 
This motive to virtue makes a greater figure in 
the system of the later stoics (those heathen philo- 
sophers who, in consequence of entertaining the 
most extravagant idea of their own merit, really 
idolized their own natures to a degree absolutely 
blasphemous) than in the scriptures. And if we 
consider the nature of this principle, we shall soon 
be sensible that if it be inculcated as a motive to 
virtue, and particularly the virtues of a sublimer 
kind, it should be with great caution, and in such 
a manner as shall have the least tendency to encou- 
rage self-applause. For does not self-applause 
border very nearly upon pride and self conceit, and 
that species of it which is called spiritual pride, 

and 



THE jDUlY OT HO? 



and #1S§i is certainly a most malignant disposi- 
tion f 

If this same principle have power to excite suck 
ridiculous vanity, intolerable arrogance, inveterate 
rancour, and; supercilious contempt of others,, whert 
it has nothing but the trifling advantage of skill 
in criticism* a talent for poetry, a taste for belles, 
kttres, €T some other of the minuter parts of sci- 
ence to avail itself of ; what have we not to dread 
from it, when it can boast of what is universally 
acknowledged to be a far superior kind of excel- 
lence ? 

To guard against this dangerous rock, so fatal 
to every genuine principle of virtue, the utmost 
humility, self-diffidence, and trust in God are ever 
recommended to us in the holy scriptures. Good 
men are taught to regard him as the giver of every 
good and every perfect gift, They are represent- 
ed as disclaiming all the merit of their own good 
works, and expecting all favour and happiness* 
private or public* from the free goodness and un- 
deserved mercy of God. When we have done all 
that is commanded us we must say, we are unpro- 
fitable servants, we have done only that which it 
was our duty to do. 

. . In- -the represeiitados which our Saviour has g&; 

ven 



LIVING TO OURSELVES. £73 

ven us of the proceedings of the last great day of 
judgment, it is in this respect that the temper of 
the righteous is contrasted with that of the wicked, 
though that was not the principal design of the 
representation. The righteous seem surprized at 
the favourable opinion which their judge expresses 
of them, and absolutely disclaim all the good 
works which he ascribes to them. When saw we 
thee, say they, hungry , and fed thee ; or thirsty y and 
game thee drink ; when saw we thee a stranger and 
took thee in, or naked and cloathed thee ; ivhen sayj 
we thee sick and in prison and came unto tkee? 
Whereas the wicked are represented as equally sur- 
prized at die censure our Lord passes upon them, 
and insist upon their innocence ; saying, JVkai 
saw vjc thee < Inrngry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or 
sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee ? 

This too is the excellent moral conveyed to 4is 
in the parable of the pharisee and the publican; 
and the import of one of the blessings which .our 
Lord pronounced in a solemn manner at the. be- 
ginning of his ministry on earth, Blessed are the 
poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven ; 
and also the spirit of many of our Lord's invectives 
against the pride and hypocrisy of the scribes and 
pharisees. 

No 



274 THE DUTY OF NOT 

No other vice seems capable of disturbing the 
equal and generous temper of our Lord. Other 
vices rather excite his compassion, but pride, to- 
gether with its usual attendant hypocrisy, never 
fails to rouse his most vehement indignation : inso- 
much that before we attend to the heinous nature, 
and dreadful consequences of those vices, we arc 
apt rather to blame our Lord for intemperate wrath 
upon these occasions, and to wonder why a per- 
son, who otherwise appears to be so meek, should, 
in this case only, be so highly provoked. 

How severely doth he check the least tendency 
towards pride and ambition in his owr^ disciples, 
whenever he discovers in any of them a dispositi- 
on to aspire to distinction and superiority ; closing 
his admonition, on one remarkable occasion, with 
these words, which are characteristic of the temper 
of his religion ; Matt, xxiii. II, 12. He that is 
greatest among y on shall be your servant : Whosoe- 
ver shall exalt himself sh all be abased^ and he that 
humbleth himself shall be exalted? 

What temper can be supposed more proper to 
qualify us for joining the glorious assembly of the 
spirits of just men made perfect, and perhaps innu- 
merable orders of beings far superior to us both in 
understanding and goodness, when all the splen- 
dour^ 



LIVING TO OURSELVES. 275 

dour of the invisible world shall be thrown open 
to us, but a spirit of the deepest humility, and the 
purest benevolence? This alone can dispose us 
truly to rejoice in the view of every kind and de- 
gree of excellence wherever found, without the 
least uneasiness arising Irom pride, envy, jealousy, 
or dislike ; all which vicious qualities of the mind 
are nearly connected together. And how can a 
spirit of true humility and pure benevolence, 
which cannot exist without humility, be attained, 
if our regards be perpetually, or frequently, direct- 
ed to ourselves ? Where self is considered, pride, 
vanity, or self-conceit, with all their hateful conse- 
quences, seem, in some degree, to be unavoida- 
ble. 

Whoever, therefore, lays the foundation of hu- 
man virtue on the principle of self-interest, or, what 
is nearly the same thing, self-applause, is erecting 
a fabric which can never rest on such supports ; 
and he will be found in fact to have been pulling 
down with one hand what he was endeavouring to 
build up with the other. 

To draw to a conclusion. This doctrine abounds 
with the noblest practical uses, and points out di- 
rectly the great rule of life, and source of happi- 
ness ; which is to give ourselves wholly up to 

some 



£'76 THE irJTY-OF NOT 

some employment, which may, if- possible, engage 
all our faculties, and which tends to. the good of 
.society. This is a field which is open to the exer- 
tion .of all human powers, and in which all man- 
kind may be equally, mutually, and boundlessly 
happy. 

This will render all expedients to kill dm unne- 
cessary. With our affections and our faculties 
thus engrossed by a worthy object, we scarcely 
need to fear being ever dull, pensive,. or. melancho- 
ly, or to know what it is to have our time hang 
heavy upon our hands. And I think I may so far 
presume upon the known connexion pf mind and 
body, as to say that this is the best preservative 
against hypochondriacal disorders, to which per- 
sons whose situation in the world doth not lead 
them into the active scenes of life are peculiarly 
subject. Every day passed in the steady and earn- 
est discharge of a man's known duty will pass 
with uniform chearfulness and alacrity. And in 
the glorious animating prospect of a . future happy 
state of mankind, on which, in a humble trust and 
confidence in the assistance and grace of God, he 
has spent all his cares, and exerted all his powers, 
that joy will spring up in his heart here, which will 
hereafter- be unspeakable and full of glory. 

if 



LIVING TO OURSELVES. 



277 



If troubles and persecutions arise on account of 
our adhering to our duty ; if we be opposed in the 
prosecution of laudable undertakings, or suffer in 
consequence of undertaking them ; the true piety 
of a person who habitually lives to God, and not 
to himself, is capable of converting them all into 
pure unmixed joy and transport. Then the hu- 
man mind, roused to the most intense exertion of 
•all its faculties, burdened with no consciousness of 
guilt, referring itself absolutely to the disposal of its 
God and father, distrusting its own powers, and 
confiding m the infinite power, wisdom, and good- 
ness of God, acquires a fervour of spirit, a courage, 
fortitude, and magnanimity, tempered with the 
most perfect serenity, and the greatest presence of 
mind, that is sufficient, and more than sufficient, 
to bear a man through every difficulty, and even to 
convert all pain into pleasure. His highly agitated 
state of mind, in those trying circumstances, is al- 
most pure rapture and extasy. 

In those circumstances, which appear so distres- 
sing, numbers, I doubt not, have been able, accord- 
ing to our blessed Saviour's direction, to rejoice 
and be exceeding glad, knowing that their reward 
was great in heaven ; and have experienced more 
real comfort, peace of mind, and inward joy, in the 

T greatest 



278 



THE DUTY OF NOT 



greatest adversity, than they had ever felt in the 
days of their prosperity. Yea, what is related by 
historians of some christian and protestant martyrs 
appears to me not incredible ; namely, that in the 
midst of flames they have felt no pain. Their 
minds were so intensely agitated, and so wholly 
occupied with opposite sensations, of the most ex- 
alted nature, as to exclude all external sensation 
whatever, vastly more than we can form any idea 
of from the trances and reveries which any person 
was ever subject to. 

What the extraordinary exercises of devotion 
,are able to do upon extraordinary occasions, the 
habitual moderate exercise of piety will be able to 
do in the ordinary course, and the common trou- 
bles of our lives ; so that it may not only be com- 
pared to a strong cordial, to be applied when the 
mind is ready to faint under adversity, but to that 
food which is the daily support of our lives. 

To have God always in our thoughts, is not 
possible in this world. Present objects, to the in- 
fluence of which we are continually exposed, must 
necessarily engage a great part of our attention ; 
and worldly objects, by continually engrossing our 
thoughts, are apt to become of too great impor- 
tance to us. We grow anxious about them, and 

our 



XIVING TO OURSELVES," 279 



tmr minds are harrassed and fatigued with a con- 
stant and close attention to them. Now, it is when 
the mind is in this state, or rather tending toward 
it, that the benign influences of devotion are, in the 
ordinary course of our lives, the most sensibly felt ; 
when the mind, looking off, and above all worldly 
objects, and deeply impressed with a sense of the 
infinite power, wisdom and goodness of God, un- 
burdens itself of every anxiety, and casts all its 
cares upon its heavenly father ; and when the pre- 
ceding tumult and disorder in the passions only 
serves to augment that unspeakable joy, satisfac- 
tion and confidence, with which a deep sense of 
the presence and providence of God inspires the 
soul. 

The relief which a benevolent mind feels from 
communicating its troubles and cares to an inti- 
mate friend, in whose wisdom and integrity he can 
confide, though of the same nature, is but a faint 
image of what the truly pious soul feels in the de- 
lightful seasons of the devout intercourse which he 
maintains with his God. 

This is a perpetual source of joy and satisfacti- 
on to a truly devout mind, which the wicked, 
those persons who live to themselves and not to 
mankind, or to God, intermeddle not with. Not 

even 



£80 THE -DUTY - OF NOT 

even an idea of that sweet tranquility, exalted joy, 
and calm ferfturfg which true devotion inspires 
can be communicated to another who hath had no 
experience of it himself. This is true of those 
things of which St. Paul savs that the animal man 
cannot comprehend them, and that they 'are foolish- 
ness to him, because they art spiritually discerned. 

I wen id be no- advocate for enthusiasm. The 
fervour of devotion cannot be always kept up. 
That is inconsistent with the condition of our na- 
ture, and far from being necessary in our present 
state : but that chearfui serenity and composure in 
which moderate acts of devotion leave the mind is 
an excellent temper for entering upon, and perse- 
vering with spirit end alacrity in, any useful and 
hen km rable u ndertaki ng. 

The sum of this practical doctrine, suggested 
by revelation, and confirmed by reason and obser- 
vation is, that NO M A N CAN BF HAPPY WHO 
LIVES TO HIMSELF ; BUT THAT TRUE HAPPI- 
NESS CONSISTS IN HAVING OUR FACULTIES 
WHOLLY ENGROSSED BY SOME WORTHY OBJECT, 
IN THE PURSUIT OF WHICH THE STRONGEST 
AND BEST OF OUR AFFECTIONS HAVE THEIR 
FULL PLAY, AND IN WHICH WE ENJOY ALL 
THE CONSISTENT PLEASURES OF OUR WHOLE 

nature; 



LIVING TO OURSELVES. 



281 



nature ; that though a regard to our greatest 
happiness be of excellent use, particularly about 
the beginning of our progress towards perfectio 
and happiness, in bringing our inferior appetites 
and passions into due subjection to the superior 
powers of our nature, yet that self-love, and a re- 
gard to ourselves is very apt to grow too intense, 
and is in fact the cause of a great deal of the use- 
less anxiety, perplexity, and misery which is in the 
world ; and that therefore it ought to be our care, 
that our minds be engrossed as much as possible 
by other objects ; and that even motives to virtue 
which turn our attention frequently "upon ourselves 
should be used with caution ; for fear of feeding 
that vanity and self-conceit which we ought to 
study every method of repressing, as the greatest 
bane of true religion, being most opposite to the 
genuine temper of Christianity, and most destruc- 
tive of human happiness. 

I cannot make a better application of this gene- 
ral maxim of conduct, namely, to propose to our- 
selves, and, in the language of Solomon, to pursue 
with all our might some worthy object, some ho- 
nourable and useful employment, especially in the 
present circumstances of things among us, than in 
eucouragingyou, my brethren in the ministry, to 
T 3 prosecute 



THE BITTY OF NOT 



prosecute with vigour that excellent scheme 6t 
which you have already shewn so much laudable 
zeal, and have made so. successful a progress. 
I need not add, that I mean the scheme of a provi- 
sion for the more comfortable support of ministers* 
widows and orphans. 

This particular subject has the easiest and hap- 
piest connexion imaginable with the general one I 
have been discussing ; as it is both a worthy and 
benevolent undertaking itself, and is designed for 
the relief of those persons who have shewn them- 
selves to be actuated by the same excellent senti- 
ments ; of persons who have not lived to themselves, 
but to soeiety ; who have entered into the social 
connexions of life, and who have exposed them- 
selves and families to peculiar hardships in conse- 
quence of those honourable connexions- 

If any set of duties shine with peculiar lustre and 
make a greater figure than the rest in our holy re- 
ligion, they are those of humanity and compassion. 
Through all the books both of the Old and New 
Testament, they are the most frequently, and the 
most earnestly inculcated of any particular duties r 
doubtless, because they are of the strongest obliga- 
tion in themselves, the finest exercise for our facul- 
ties (having the greatest tendency to advanee the 

perfec- 



LIVING TO OURSELVES. 285 

perfection of our nature) and the best adapted to 
promote the ease and happiness of mankind in ge- 
neral. 

The Divine Being himself is always represented 
as taking particular notice of the treatment which 
the poor and distressed meet with. He hath stiied 
himself the father of the fatherless, and the wi- 
dow's God: and therefore when we undertake those 
humane and kind offices, we may with more pro- 
priety than in any other sphere, consider ourselves 
as acting the glorious part of God's deputies, and 

as stewards of the divine grace and goodness here 
below. 

If we be obliged to contribute of oar substance 
to the relief of the distressed, much more is it in- 
cumbent upon us not to withhold our labour and 
our interest, in the prosecution of proper schemes 
for their relief. And the method in which it is 
proposed to relieve the distressed persons we have 
now under consideration is one that is quite free 
from all the difficulties which lie in the way of 
common charities (though the objections to com- 
mon chanties have no weight in this particular 
case) and a method which is, in all cases, the most 
eligible, when it can be pursued with effect; 
namely, to put those persons whose circumstances 

X 4 are- 



284 THE DUTY OP NOT 

are distressing, or liable to be so, in the way of 
relieving themselves. It is to exert our humanity 
in the way of encouraging, if not industry, at least 
frugality. 

This, consequently, is a method which will re- 
lieve the minds of the distressed of a burthen which 
is often less tolerable than most kinds of calamity, 
namely, the sense of dependence and obligation. 
It may be a false kind of delicacy which makes 
some persons so extremely sensible upon these oc- 
casions ; but it is a sensibility which only the 
most amiable and deserving persons are subject 
to ; and there is certainly a peculiar propriety in 
attending to this circumstance in the case before 
us. 

Who are, generally, the unhappy widows whose 
ease we are now considering, but persons who. 
have been brought up in easy and genteel circum- 
stances, and whose small fortunes, joined to the 
income of their husbands, and managed with great 
frugality, have been just sufficient to bring up a fa- 
mily in that decent and reputable manner, in which 
a regard to their station in life, and to the congre- 
gations in whose service their husbands were en- 
gaged, are universally acknowledged to require. 
These unhappy persons, therefore,, are reduced a 

once* 



LIVING TO OURSELVES. 



285 



once, upon the death of their husbands, and the 
great reduction, it not total ceasing of their in- 
comes (which is the immediate consequence of that 
event) to one of the mast distressing situations that 
can occur in human life. 

Here is to be seen the deepest affliction for the loss 
of that companion and friend for whose sake they 
had sacrificed perhaps better prospects, and situa- 
tions in which it would have been more in their 
power to support themselves and families in the 
like circumstances ; the greatest indigence, to 
which they have never been accustomed, with 
which they are therefore wholly unprepared to en- 
counter, and which, in their time of life, they arc 
utterly incapable of remedying ; and all this joined 
with that generosity of sentiment, inspired by their 
education, and cherished by the company and ac- 
quaintance they have always kept up, to which re~ 
relief itself is distressing, unless conferred with the 
greatest prudence and delicacy. 

To augment the distress of these disconsolate 
widows, they see nothing before them but a num- 
ber of children educated in the same decent and 
frugal manner in which their parents were obliged 
to live, with expectations (if they be of an age capa- 
ble of having any) almost unavoidably above their 

rank 



286 



THE DUTY Of NOT 



rank and fortune, wholly unprovided or, and des^ 
titute, in a great measure, of their father's interest 
and friendships, on which were founded all their 
expectations cf being introduced with tolerable 
prospects into the world. 

Here then, my brethren, are the worthiest ob- 
jects of charity, and here is the most unexception* 
able and desirable method of bestowing it; so that 
no circumstance seems wanting to engage every 
benevolent and public-spirited person to join hear- 
tily in a scheme which is calculated for so excel- 
lent a purpose. 

Consider, my brethren, how many worthy per- 
sons are anxious about the prudence and the vigour 
of your present resolutions ; with what tender and 
heart- piercing concern the worthy and pious pa- 
rent regards the wife of his bosom, and the chil- 
dren of his love, when he feels the symptoms of his. 
own declining nature, and dreads to communicate 
the alarming intelligence. ; and how earnestly he 
wishes it may be in his power to do something,, 
while living, which, when he is dead, may be the 
means of providing a small substitute for the fruit 
of his present labours ; when alas, no substitute 
can be provided for himself, for his advice, his in- 
structions, his consolations, the charms of his con- 
versation^ 



\ 



LIVING TO OURSELVES. 287 

versation, and all his personal kind offices.. Of 
what a load of anxiety and distress, which tends u> 
hasten the dreaded event, would this scheme ease 
the worthiest ' and most considerate of human 
minds ? 

Consider also, how many persons, the best qua- 
lified to bear their parts with propriety and honour 
in social life, and to exhibit the finest example of 
the several relative and domestic duties to others, 
and who are thereby capable of having their own 
usefulness greatly extended, are restrained from en- 
gaging in social connexions by that peculiar ten- 
derness and humanity, which a liberal education, 
and a life devoted to the service of a benevolent re- 
ligion inspires ; and also by that very prudence,, 
which would eminenly contribute to their fulfilling 
the most important duties of it in the most exem- 
plary manner. 

So excellent an undertaking will doubtless be 
its own sufficient reward ; and if the fervent prayer 
of a righteous man availeth much, what good may 
you not reasonably expect that the devout blessings 
and fervent prayers of the many excellent persons 
interested in your present resolutions will procure 
you, from that God who is able to make all grace 
abound towards you and to supply all your wants, 
tut of his abundant fulness in Christ Jesus ? 

Let 



28$ THE DUTY OF NOT 

Let us then, my brethren, be stedfast and immov- 
able in this, as well as always abounding in every 
good work; for-as-mwh as we know thai our labour 
shall not be in vain in the Lord, 



OF 



289 

©F THE 

DANGER 

OF 

BAD HABITS. 



Ephraim is joined to idols. Let him alone. 

Ho se a IV. 17. 

Ephraim is here put for the whole kingdom 
of Israel, of which it was a part; and this awful 
sentence pronounced upon it was delivered during 
its declension, and not long before its final disso- 
lution by the kings of Assyria. 

Many prophets had God sent to this unhappy 
nation, and by repeated messages had he expostu- 
lated with them, from time to time, for their cry- 
ing wickedness and provocations. They had had 
line upon line, and precept upon precept ; but all had 
been to no purpose. They shewed no sign of re- 
pentance, but held fast their iniquity, and would not 
let it go 'till the divine patience and forbearance 

were 



THE DANGER Of 



were wearied out. Mercy could plead for them 
no longer, their fate was determined ; and the exe- 
cution of the just judgments of God upon them 
was only delayed, but was sure to take place in the 
end. 

This is the case of a whole nation abandoned of 
God in this fearful manner. But whatever has 
been the case of one nation may not only be the 
case of another nation, but also that of any indivi- 
dual ; and it is the possibility of this being the 
case of our own nation, or of ourselves, that makes 
it to demand our attention. To the Almighty, 
with respect to moral government, a nation is as one 
man, and one man as a whole nation. He punish- 
es vice, and he rewards virtue in both ; and what- 
ever is agreeable to wisdom and equity in the case 
of a nation is likewise agreeable to wisdom and 
equity with respect to individuals. Supposing, 
therefore, that the cases are exactly similar, I shall, 
in discoursing from these words, 

First, State the case with as much exactness a» 
I can ; 

Secondly, Shew the probability and danger of 
it with respect to human nature ; and 

Thirdly, Consider the equity and propriety of it 
with respect to God, applying the whole doctrine 
to the cases of individuals. 

In 



BAD HABITS, 291 

In the first place, I am to state this ease with as 

much exactness as I can. 

In general, when any person is in the condition 
of Ephraim in my text, so that God shall, as it 
were, say of him, he is joined to idols, (he is joined 
to his lusts, and vices,) let him alone, his day of tri- 
al and probation may be said to be, to all impor- 
tant purposes, expired. He is no longer a subject 
cf moral government, because he is utterly incapa- 
ble of amendment, which is the end of all moral 
discipline ; and though, through the goodness of 
God, which is over all his works, he may live ma- 
ny years longer, yet his final doom is in reality fix- 
ed ; his sentence is irrevocable, and the execution 
of it merely deferred. 

Not that the reformation of any sinner is ever 
naturally impossible, or that, if he truly repent, he 
shall not find favour at the hand of God. For no- 
thing is impossible with God, and a truly humble, pe- 
nitent, and contrite heart he will never despise, 
whenever, and wheresoever he finds it. But the 
change may be morally impossible, or not to be ex- 
pected according to the usual course of things ; 
and this is sufficient to authorize us to make use 
of the language. 

Supposing a man to have lived so long in the 

habits 



i 



292 



th£ danger of 



habits of vice, as to have lost all relish for every- 
thing that is good, that he has no pleasure in the 
company of the sober, the virtuous, and the pious, 
but only in that of those who are as abandoned as 
himself, and that the greatest satisfaction he has is 
in corrupting others (and farther than this depravi- 
ty cannot go) ; supposing that, in the course of his 
life, this man, besides every advantage for instruc- 
tion, had experienced a great variety of prosperity 
and adversity ; and yet that prosperity, instead of 
making him more thankful and obedient to God* 
made him forget him the more ; and that, afflicti- 
ons, instead of softening and bettering his heart, 
only served to harden it, and make it worse : Do 
I say that this abandoned wretch canmt be reform* 
ed, that God cannot, by any methods whatever, 
work upon his heart, and bring him to serious 
thought and reflexion? By no means — That 
would be to limit the power of God, to whom all 
things are possible. He can work 7niracl.es, r be 
should think proper so to do. But then I say this 
would be a proper miracle, such as, at this clay, 
we are not authorized to expect. And judging 
by what we see actually to take place, and what we 
must conclude to be just and right, Gocl may, and 
probably will, leave such an one to himself. 'He 
i . f s may 



BAD HABITS. 



293 



may determine to try him no longer by any of 
those methods of his providence which are usually 
employed for the purpose of reclaiming sinners. 

For instance, afflictions, and especially bodily 
sickness, are a great means of softening and better- 
ing the minds of men ; but God may resolve that 
he shall be visited with no remarkable sickness, un- 
til he be overtaken with his last; or he may cut 
him off by a sudden and unexpected death, in the 
midst of his crimes. The death of our friends, 
or any calamities befalling them, have often been 
the means, in the hands of divine providence, of 
bringing to serious thought and reflexion those 
who have survived those strokes ; but God may 
resolve never to touch him in so tender a part, but 
rather make use of his death as a warning and ex- 
ample to others. 

Now when a man is thus left of God, and no pro- 
vidential methods are used to reclaim him, we 
may conclude that he is irrecoverably lost. It is, 
in fact, and according to the course of nature (and 
we know of no deviations from it since the age of 
the apostles) absolutely impossible that he should 
repent, or be reformed. And though he should 
continue to live ever so long after God has thus for- 
saken him, he is only, in the awful language of 
U scrip- 



THE DANGER OF 



scripture, treasuring up wrath against the day of 
wrath ; and there remains nothing for him but a 
fearful looking for of judgment, and of that fiery in- 
dignation which shall consume the adversaries of 
God, 

Hav ing thus stated the nature of this awful case, 
and shewn in what sense, and on w T hat account, it 
may be said that it is quite desperate and hopeless, 
viz. because it may be morally impossible that he 
should ever truly repent and be reformed, by rea- 
son of God's withdrawing those providential me- 
thods by which he uses to work upon men's 
hearts, and to bring- them to serious thought and 
reflexion, I come 

2diy, To consider the probability and danger of 
the case with respect to human nature; how far 
men are liable to fall into this fearful condition, 
and by what means they fall into it. 

A man's case may be pronounced to be thus 
desperate, when his mind is brought into such a 
state, as that the necessary means of reformation 
shall have lost their effect upon him ; and this is 
the natu ral consequence of confirmed habits of vice, 
and a long-continued neglect of the means of reli- 
gion and virtue, which is so far from being an im- 
possible or improbable case, that it is a very gene- 
ral oae. 



BAD HABITS. 



295 



In order to be the more sensible of this, you are 
to consider that vice is a habit, and therefore of a 
subtle and insinuating nature. By easy, pleasing, 
and seemingly harmless actions, men are often be- 
trayed into a progress, which grows every day 
more alarming, Our virtuous resolutions may 
break with difficulty. It may be with pain and 
reluctance that we commit the first acts of sin, but 
the next are easier to us ; and use, custom, and 
habit, will at last reconcile us to any thing, even 
things the very idea of which might at first be 
shocking to us. 

Vice is a thing not to be trilled with. You 
may, by the force of vigorous resolution, break 
oiF in the early stages of it ; bu t habits, when they 
have been confirmed, and long continued, are ob- 
stinate things to contend with, and are hardly ever 
entirely subdued. When bad habits seem to be 
overcome, and we think we have got rid of our 
chains, they may perhaps only have become, as it 
were, invisible ; so that when we thought we had 
recovered our freedom, and strength, so as to be 
able to repel any temptation, we may lose all pow- 
er of resistance on the first approach of it. 

A man who has contracted a habit of vice, and 
been abandoned to sinful courses for some time, is, 
U 2 never 



296 



THE DANGER OF 



never out of danger. He is exactly in the case of 
a man who has long laboured under a chronical 
disease, and is perpetually subject to a relapse. 
The first shock of any disorder a man's constituti- 
on may bear, and if it be not naturally subject to 
it, he may perfecriy recover, and be out of danger. 
But when the general habit is such, as that a re- 
lapse is apprehended, a man's friends and physici- 
ans are alarmed for him. 

The reason is, that a relapse does not find a per- 
son in the condition in which he was when the first 
fit of illness seized him. That gave his constitu- 
tion a shock, and left him enfeebled, so as to be less 
able to su stain another shock ; and especially if it 
be more violent than the former, as is generally the 
case in those disorders. 

In the very same dangerous situation is the man 
who has ever been addicted to vicious courses. 
He can never be said to be perfectly recovered, 
whatever appearances may promise, but is always 
in danger of a fatal relapse. He ought, therefore, 
to take the greatest care of himself. He is not 
in the condition of a person who has never 
k?iow?z the ways of wickedness. He ought, there- 
fore, to have the greatest distrust of himself, and 
set a double watch over his thoughts, words, and 

actions 



BAD HABITS. 



297 



•actions, for fear of a surprize. For if once, thro' 
the force of any particular temptation, he should 
fall back into his former vicious courses, and his 
former disposition should return, his case will pro- 
bably be desperate. He will plunge himself still 
deeper in wickedness ; and his having abstained 
for a time will only, as it were, have whetted his 
appetite, and make him swallow down the poison 
of sin by larger and more eager draughts than 
«ver. 

Such persons may be so entirely in the power of 
vicious habits, that they shall be in no sense their 
own masters. They may even see the danger they 
are in, wish to free themselves from the habits they 
have contracted, and yet find they have no force, 
or resolution, to relieve themselves. They are not 
to be rescued from the snare of tlie destroyer, and 
brought to their right mind, but by some uncom- 
mon and alarming providence, which is in the 
hands of God, and which he may justly withhold, 
when his patience and long-suffering have been 
much abused. Justly may he say to such an ha- 
bitual sinner, as he did to Ephraim in the text ; 
He is joined to idols, he is joined to his lusts, let 
him alone. He is determined to have the pleasure 
of sin, let him receive the wages of sin also. 

U3 This 



298 



Tilt DANCER Of 



This brings me to the third head of my dis~ 
course, in which I propose to consider the equity 
of the proceding with rsspect to God. 

It may be said that it is not agreeable to equity 
for God to favour some with the means of improve- 
ment, and suffer others to abandon themselves to 
destruction without a possibility escaping. But I 
answer, that the persons whose case I have been 
describing have had, aud have outlived, their day 
of grace. God has long exercised forbearance to- 
wards them, but they have wearied it out ; and it 
could not be expected to last for ever. They have 
had gracious invitations to repentance, but they 
have slighted them all : they stopped their ears, 
and refused to retunu They have been tried with 
a great variety *both of merciful and of afflictive 
Jorovidences, but they made no good use of them. 
Why then, as the prophet says, should they be 
siricken any more y when they will only revolt more 
and more ? 

A day of trial and probation, or what is frequent- 
ly called a day of grace, must necessarily have 
some period ; else when would the time of retribu- 
tion, when would the time of rewards and punish- 
ments, take place ? A state of trial necessarily re- 
jects some future state, in which men must re- 
ceive 



/ 



BAD HABITS. 



299 



ceive according to their deeds. But this state of 
trial it has pleased God to make of uncertain dura- 
tion, no doubt to keep us always watchful, having 
our accounts always in readiness, because in such 
an hour as we think not our Lord may come, and re- 
quire them. The state of trial, therefore, is with 
some of much longer duration than it is with 
others : and God is the sovereign arbiter of every 
thing relating to it. He makes our lives longer or 
shorter, as seems good in his sight, and at death a 
state of trial ends of course. We may, therefore, 
as well pretend to question the justice and equity 
of God's cutting us off by death when and in what 
manner he pleases, as arraign his justice in sealing 
up our doom, though while we live, whenever he 
pleases. 

No doubt God gives to every person a sufficient 
trial ; for he is not willing that any should perish, 
but had rather that all should come to repentance*. 
We may therefore assure ourselves, that he will 
not cease to endeavour to promote the reformation 
of a sinner by all proper means, until he shall be- 
come absolutely incorrigible, and the methods tak- 
en to reclaim him would be abused and lost. And 
if we consider that every means of improvement 
neglected adds to a man's guilt, and aggravates 
U4 his 



300 THE DANGER t)? 

his condemnation, it may even appear to be mercy 
in the Divine Being to grant a person no farther 
means of improvement, after it has been found, by 
actual trial, that they would only have been abus- 
ed, and therefore have proved highly injurious to 
him. Not but that it might have been sufficient 
to silence every cavil of this kind, to say, as Paul 
does, on a similar occasion, Who art thou, 0 man, 
'that repliest against God; or with Abraham, Shall 
not the judge of all the earth do that which is right ? 
But it is proper to shew that in the midst of judg- 
ment God remembers mercy. 

There is a very pathetic description of the case 
ofa sinner who, after a relapse into vicious courses, 
is justly abandoned of God, to seek his own de- 
struction, in a parable of our Saviour's, formed 
upon the popular opinion of the Jews of his age 
concerning demons, or evil spirits, Matt. xii. 43, 
&c. 6( When the unclean spirit is gone out of a 
u man, he walketh through dry places, seeking 
" rest, and findeth none. Then he saith, I will 
" return to my house from whence I came out ; 
" and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept, 
" and garnished. Then goeth he, and taketh with 
u himself seven other spirits, more wicked than 
" himself, and they enter in, and dwell there, and 

" the 



BAD HABITS. 



301 



ft the last state of that man is worse than the first.' 7 
The application of this parable either to the case of 
the Jews (for whom it seems to have been origi- 
nally intended) or to particular persons, who, aiter 
a seeming reformation, have relapsed into vicious 
courses, is too obvious to be particularly dwelt 
upon. 

To come, therefore, to a general application of 
this doctrine , let all persons who are sensible of the 
folly and evil of sinful courses, and of the danger 
of persisting in them, make a speedy and effectual 
retreat. Let us do nothing by halves. To be 
lukewarm in religion, is in effect to have no religi- 
on at all. We must ghe God our hearts; we 
must give him an undivided affection ; for we can- 
not truly love God and mammon, or the world, at 
the same time. In this unsettled and fluctuating 
disposition, temptations will have a great advantage 
over us. We shall ever be in danger of throwing 
off all restraint, and of running into every kind of 
riot and excess, 'till nothing on the part of the di- 
vine providence shall occur to reclaim us. 

In reality, my brethren, and to every valuable 
end and purpose, the term of our trial and probati- 
on does generally expire long before the term of 
.our. natural lives. For how few are there whose 

charac- 



502 



THE DANGER OF 



characters, whose dispositions, or habits of mind, 
undergo any considerable change after they arc 
grown to man's estate ? Our tempers, and general 
characters are usually fixed as soon as we have fix- 
ed ourselves in a regular employment and mode of 
life. For, after this, we see almost every person 
continue the very same to the end of his, life. 
Some remarkable providential occurrence, some fit 
of sickness, or some unforeseen misfortune of any 
kind, may alarm those who have been addicted to 
vicious courses, and for a time bring them to se- 
rious thought and reflexion ; but if they be turned 
thirty or forty years of age, how soon do the seri- 
ous purposes, which they then form, go off, and 
their former modes of thinking and living return ? 
Not only with respect to temper, and disposition oj 
mind, as it relates to virtue or vice, but with re- 
spect those habits which are indifferent to morals, 
we see that, excepting one case perhaps in a thou- 
sand, they are not subject to change after the peri- 
od that I have mentioned. Any habits that we 
contract early in life, any particular bias or incli- 
nation ; any particular cast of thought, or mode of 
conversation : even any particular gesture of body, 
as in walking, sitting, &c. we are universally 
known by among our acquaintance, from the time 

that 



SAD HABITS. 



303 



that we properly enter life to the time that we have 
done with it ; as much as we are by the tone of our 
voice, or our hand- writing, which likewise are of 
the nature of habits, or customs. 

These observations may be applied in a great 
measure even to matters of opinion, (though, na- 
turally, nothing seems to be more variable) as well 
as to mental and corporeal habits. A man who has 
studied, or who fancies he has studied, any parti- 
cular subject, sooner or later makes up his mind, 
as we say, with respect to it ; and after this,, all ar- 
guments, intended to convince him of his mistake, 
only serve to confirm him in his chosen way of 
thinking. An argument, or evidence of any kind, 
that is entirely new to a man, may make a proper 
impression upon him ; but if it has been often 
proposed to him, and he has had time to view and 
consider it, so as to have hit upon any method of 
evading the force of it, he is afterwards quite cal- 
lous to it, and can very seldom be prevailed upon 
to give it any proper attention. This consideration 
accounts, in some measure, both for the great in- 
fluence of Christianity on its first publication, when 
the doctrines were new and striking, and also for 
the absolute indifference with which the same great 
ruths are now heard in all christian countries. 

It 



S04 



THE DANGER OF 



It accounts also for the more striking effect of 
the preaching of the methodists than ours. They 
find people utterly ignorant, to whom the truths, 
the promises, and the threatenings, of the gospel 
are really new ; whereas we have to do with persons 
who have heard them from their infancy, and have, 
alas, acquired a habit of disregarding them. But 
then our people, having, in general, been brought 
up in habits of virtue, such great changes of cha- 
racter and conduct are less necessary in their case. 
It is to be regretted, however, that they too seldom 
exceed that mediocrity of character which they ac- 
quire in early life. I speak of the generality a- 
mong us. For others are remarkable exceptions, 
persons of disinterested and heroic virtue y in full 
proportion to the superior advantages which they 
enjoy. 

The resistance which the mind makes to the ad- 
mission of truth, when it has been strongly preju- 
diced against it, is evident both with respect to the 
belief of Christianity in general, and of particular 
opinions relating to it. There are many persons, 
by no means defective with respect to judgment in 
other things, of whose conversion to Christianity 
we can have no more reasonable expectation, than 
of the sun rising in the west, even though they 

should 



BAD HABITS. 



305 



should consent to hear, or read, every thing that 
we could propose to them for that purpose. There 
are also many conscientious and intelligent roman 
catholics, absurd as we justly think their principles 
to be, who would deliberately read the best defen- 
ces of protestantism, without any other effect than 
that of being more confirmed in their prejudices 
against it. The same may be said of persons pro- 
fessing other modes of faith ; so that their persua- 
sions are not to be changed, except by such a me- 
thod as that which was applied for the conversion 
of the apostle Paul. The same observation may 
also be applied to many opinions, and especially 
to a general 'bias , or turn of 'thinking , in matters of 
a political nature, and even in subjects of philoso- 
phy, or criticism. 

Facts of this kind, of which we are all witnesses, 
and which come within the observation of every 
day in our lives, shew in a very striking light, 
what care we ought to take in forming our first 
judgments of things, and in contracting our first 
habits, and therefore deserve the more especial at- 
tention of young persons. For we see that when 
these principles and habits are once properly form-, 
ed, they are generally fixed for life. Whatever is 
fact with respect to mankind in general \ we ought 

to 



306 



THE DANGER ©F 



to conclude to be the case with respect to ourselves ; 
that the cause is in the constitution of our common 
nature, and dependent upon the fundamental laws 
of it, and, no doubt a wise and useful part of it; 
and we must not expect that miracles will be 
wrought in our favour. 

To shew that there is the greatest advantage, as 
well as some inconvenience, resulting from this 
disposition to " fixity yas we call it, in our own nature, 
let it be observed, that if there was noVnivig fixed r 
or permanent^ in the human character, we should 
find the same inconvenience, as if any other law of 
nature was unsettled. We should be perpetually 
at a loss how to conduct ourselves, how to behave 
to mankind in general, and even to our own parti- 
cular friends and acquaintance, especially after 
having been for any space of time absent from 
them. We do not expect to find persons the very 
same in all changes of condition or circumstances, 
a&in sickness and health, prosperity and adversity, 
Sec. but then we generally know what kind of 
change to expect in them in those circumstances, 
and we regulate our conduct towards them by our 
experience of the usual effect of similar changes. 

These observations, when applied to opinions^ 
may serve to amuse us, but when they are applied 

to 



RAD HABITS* 



307 



to practice they ought seriously to alarm us. Let 
all those, therefore, who, being at all advanced in 
life, see reason to be dissatisfied with themselves, 
with their disposition of mind, and their general 
conduct, be alarmed; for there is certainly the 
greatest reason for it, probably much more than 
they are themselves aware of. Persons in this 
state of mind always flatter themselves with a time 
when they shall have more leisure for repentance 
and reformation ; but, judging from observation 
on others, which is the surest guide that they can 
follow (infinitely better than their own imaginati- 
ons) they may conclude, that it is almost a certain- 
that such a time will never come. 

If they should have the leisure for repentance and 
reformation which they promised themselves, it is 
not probable that sufficient strength of resolution 
will come along with it. Indeed, all resolutions 
to repent at a future time are necessarily insincere, 
and must be a mere deception ; because they im- 
ply a preference of a man's present habits and con- 
duct, that he is really unwilling to change them, 
and that nothing but necessity would lead him to 
make any attempt of the kind. In fact, he can only 
mean that he will discontinue particular actions, 
his habits or temper of mind, remaining the same. 

Besides,, 



308 THE- DAGGER OF 



Besides, a real, effectual repentance, or reformat 
tion, is such a totaj change in a man, as cannot, in: 
the nature of things, take place in a short space of 
time. A m$n!$ habits are formed by the scenes 
he has gone through, and the impressions which 
they have made upon him ; and when death ap- 
proaches, a man has not another life, like this, to* 
live over again. He may, even on a death- bed, 
most sincerely wwAthat he had a. pious and bene- 
volent disposition, with the love of virtue in -all its. 
branches : but that wish, though it be ever so sin- 
cere, and earnest, can no more produce a proper 
change in his mind, than it can restore him to 
health, or make him taller, or stronger.* than he is. 

The precise time when this confirmed state of 
mind takes place, or, in the language of scripture, 
the time when any person is thus left of God> or left 
to himself cannot be determined. It is necessari- 
ly various and uncertain. But in general, we 
may say, that when any person has been long aban- 
doned to vicious courses, when vice is grown into 
a habit with him, and especially, when his vices are 
more properly of a mental nature, such as a dispo- 
sition to envy, malice f or selfishness ■ (which are the 
most inveterate, the most difficult to be eradicated, 
of all vices); when neither health nor sickness, 

prosperity 



BAD HABITS. 



309 



prosperity nor adversity, when neither a man's 
own reflexions, the remonstrances of his friends, 
nor admonitions from the pulpit, have any visible 
effect upon him ; when, after this, we see no great 
change in his worldly affairs, or connexions, bu t he 
goes on from day to day, from month to month, 
and from year year, without any sensible altera- 
tion, there is reason to fear that he is fallen into this 
fatal security \ that he is, as it were, fallen asleep^ 
and that this sleep will be the sleep of death, 

However, a shadow of hope is not to be despised. 
One chance in a thousand is still a chance ; and 
there are persons whose vigour of mind is such, 
that, when sufficiently rouzed, they are equal to 
almost any thing. Let those, therefore, who see 
their danger at any time of life, be up and doing, 
working out their salvation with fear and tremblings 
ihat> if possible, they may flee from the math to 
to come* 



W 



A DIS. 



310 - . I 

A 

DISCOURSE 

ON THE 

RESURRECTION OF JESUS. 

ifa/ /z</a> is Christ risen from the dead, and become 
the first fruits of them that slept. 

1 Cor. XV. 20. 

We cannot imagine any question more inte- 
resting to man, than whether he shall survive the 
grave, so that he shall live, and especially live for 
ever, after he has been dead. Every question re- 
lating to our condition here is of no moment at ail 
when compared to this. 

Nothing that we see in nature can lead us to 
form any such expection. I say expectation. For 
though some appearances may lead us to indulge a 
mish, and in come persons perhaps encourage a 
hope, of another life after this, yet if we were left to 
ihe mere light of nature, it would remain improba- 
ble 



A DISCOURSE, ScC. 



311 



ble upon the whole ; so that we could not, in this 
situation, die with any reasonable prospect of liv- 
ing again. 

The constitution of man very much resembles 
that of other animals. They have the same senses 
of body, and the same faculties of mind, differing 
from us only in degree; man being more intelli- 
gent than they, and therefore capable of greater re* 
finement in his passions and affections, and having 
greater comprehension of mind, so as to take into 
his view more of the past, and of the future, toge- 
ther with the present, than they can. This, how- 
ever, amounts to no difference in kind; and the dif- 
ference that we see among other animals in these re- 
specie, is as great as that which subsists between 
us and the highest of them , the oyster, for exam- 
ple, and the elephant. Consequently, it would be 
natural to conclude that one fate awaits us all, the 
superior kinds of animals as well as the inferior, 
and man as well as them all. When we die, we 
are equally subject to corruption, and a total disso- 
lution of the parts of which we consist, without any 
appearance of their ever being re-assembled, and 
re-arranged as they were before, or of any other 
Being, in a new form, resulting from them. Death 

is a 

W2 



312 



A DISCOURSE Otf THfe 



is a great veil, which no man can draw aside, and 
beyond which all is darkness. 

But were it possible, by the force of any reason- 
ing, to discover the probability of a future state 
(and few persons will pretend that they can, by the 
light of nature, arrive at certainty with respect to it) 
the reasons, whatever they were, that made so 
great an event probable to one, might give no satis- 
faction to another. 

Besides, the magnitude of the question is such, 
and the interest we have in the solution of it is so 
great, that nothing but the strongest and clearest 
evidence could give general satisfaction with re- 
spect to it. Nothing less than a positive assurance 
from our maker himself could answer this purpose. 
And this (which, if any thing could be said to re- 
quire it, did so) revelation informs us has been gi- 
ven, and in such a manner as must give entire sa- 
tisfaction to every unprejudiced mind, life and im- 
mortality being fully brought to light by the gospel, 
as I hope to evince in the prosecution of this dis- 
course. 

It could not be expected that the Divine Being 
should give this assurance to every individual of 
'the human race. It would be sufficient if it was 
"given to some, to be communicated, with proper 

evidence 



RESURRECTION OF JESUS* 313 

evidence of the fact, to others ; and unless the 
communication was made to every person, this is 
all that could be done in the case. For this truth 
is of such a nature as to be incapable of strict, or 
mathematical, demonstration, such as that of twice 
two making/^r, but only of such proof as histori- 
cal facts are capable of. But the evidence of a fu- 
ture state should not be undervalued on that ac- 
count ; because there are no kinds of truth of which 
we have a more firm persuasion than of those of 
the historical kind ; as for example, that such a 
person as Julius Caesar once lived at Rome, and 
that there exists at present such a city as Constan- 
tinople. What propositions do we believe more 
firmly than we do these ? Now if our faith in a fu- 
ture life can be shewn to be as well founded as 
these are, it is quite sufficient for the purpose ; be- 
cause it will b© a faith that men will not scruple 
to act upon. They would then live as expectants 
of immortality, and would do nothing that should 
imply a doubt of a future state. That is, they 
would lead virtuous lives, which is the end of all 
religior. 

In what manner God was pleased to impart to 
mankind the first information concerning a future 
life we are not now acquainted, as we have no ac- 
W 3 count 



514 



A DISCOURSE ON THE 



count of it in the writings of Moses, or m any o- 
ther writings now extant. But we see the effect 
of it in the Jews, who to this day are all firm belie- 
vers in it ; and, with a few exceptions, appear al- 
ways to have believed in it. We may, therefore, 
presume that, in some period of time past, mankind, 
or at least the ancestors of that nation, had satisfac- 
tory evidence of the Divine Being having given 
them this assurance. Because it is an idea that 
we cannot well suppose would ever have occurred 
to men themselves. 

That there may be something in man that con- 
tinues to exist, notwithstanding the change that 
takes place in him at death, may be imagined. Bu f, 
upon that principle, man cannot be said properly 
to die at all. He only continues to exist in some 
other form or manner. But that man should really 
die, and after continuing in a state of death, come 
to life ao;ain at a future neriod, that is. that there 
should be a proper resurrection of the dead, which 
is the faith of the Jews, and Christians (being, I 
must now presume^ the clear doctrine of both the 
Old and the New Testament) I will venture to say 
must ever have appeared in the highest degree im- 
probable, and therefore incredible. Nothing but 
the express assurance of the Great Being whq made 

men 



RESURRRCTION OF JESUS. 



315 



men could have satisfied them that he would re- 
vive them in those circumstances. 

The original record of the communication of 
this most important truth having been lost, it pleas- 
ed the Divine Being to renew it by Jesus Christ, 
the founder of our religion ; who not only asserted 
the doctrine, as from God, and confirmed it by 
miracles, or such works as no man could have 
done if God had not been with him ; but who him- 
self actually died and rose again, as a proof of the 
reality of the thing. And this seems to have been 
all the evidence that mankind could have asked, if 
the most intelligent, and the most incredulous of 
them, had been required to say what would satisfy 
them. 

As Jesus restid the evidence of his divine missi- 
on, and consequently his authority to preach the 
doctrine of a future life, in a more particular man- 
ner upon his own resurrection from the dead ; and 
as, in all cases, examples have the greatest weight 
with mankind, I shall confine myself at this time 
to the consideration of the circumstances of his 
death and resurrection, shewing them to have been 
such as render those important events in the high- 
est degree credible, both at the time when they 
took place ; and> which i:> of much more conse- 
W 4 quence 



316 A DISCOURSE OS THE 

quence, in all future time. So that, had mankind,, 
not only in that period, but in the most distant 
ages, been required to name the evidence that 
would give them the most satisfaction, it will ap- 
pear that it has been given them , and that, in any 
Other circumstances than the actual ones, the 
events would have appeared less credible than they 
do at present. 

In the first place, however, I would briefly pre- 
mise, that Jesus Christ was not only an uncommon 
man, but an uncommon prophet, die circumstan- 
ces in which he appeared having been calculated to 
excite greater attention to him than to any other 
person who had ever appeared in that character ; his 
coming having been announced some centuries be- 
fore his birth ; another prophet having been com- 
missioned to declare his more immediate appear- 
ance, and no other prophet having appeared for 
near four hundred years before his immediate pre- 
decessor. 

This circumstance alone, independently of any 
others, shews that the Jews, among whom Jesua 
appeared r were not a credulous nation- For if this 
had been the case, as they are well known to, have- 
been very proud of having had prophets among^ 
them, there would have been, in so long a period r 

many 



RESURRECTION OF CHRIST. 31T 

many false pretensions to prophecy ; whereas in all 
that time there does not appear to have been any 
pretension of this kind. Nay the whole history 
of the Jews shews that, if any nation was to have 
been chosen for a theatre of prophecy, none could 
have been&o proper for the purpose as that of the 
Jews ; because they appear to have been the least 
credulous, more disposed to reject, than eagerly to 
receive, any prophets that were sent to them, Mo- 
ses himself, the great pride of their nation, least of 
all excepted. They were ever fond of the cere- 
monies and religious rites of their neighbours, but 
always ready to reject their own, till repeatedljr 
brought back to the observance of them by the se- 
verest judgments* 

Besides, though a great prophet, under the de- 
nomination of the Messiah, was expected by the 
body of the Jewish nation, the idea they had uni- 
versally conceived of him was such, that, though 
Jesus truly bore that character, he was, in fact, such 
a person as they were least likely to receive in it. 
Their idea of the Messiah was that of a king and a 
conqueror, to which Jesus made no pretensions. 
Nothing, therefore, but the most overbearing evi- 
dence could be expected to induce any Jew to re- 
ceive in that character one who disclaimed all 

wordly 



518 A DISCOURSE ON THE 

worldly honours, and who left his nation in the ab- 
ject condition in which he found it. I will venture 
to say we have no example in history of any nati- 
onal prejudice so deeply rooted as this among the 
Jews, of their Messiah being to be a temporal 
prince, destined to rescue their nation from servi- 
tude, and to make them the most distinguished 
people upon the face of the earth. It is found 
among all the Jews, in all parts of the world, to this 
very day. No time, or calamities, seem capable 
of extinguishing it. Evidence, therefore, that 
could subdue such a prejudice as this, in any con- 
siderable number of ynvs, must have been of the 
most satisfactory kind. 

In this nation did Jesus appeal', after Being an- 
nounced by John the Baptist, who, to draw the 
more attention upon him, solemnly bap f ized those 
who received his doctrine, the chief article of which 
was the speedy appi-oach of another prophet much 
greater than himself. An audible voice from hea- 
ven was the token by which John knew that Jesus 
was the person whom he was sent to precede, for 
they had no previous knowledge of each ether. 
Accordingly. John referred all his disciples to Jesus, 
thereby transferring to him, as far as it was in his 
power, ail the popularity that he himself had ac- 
quired. 



RESURRECTION OF JESUS. 



319 



quired, which appears to have been very great with 
the nation in general. This, I would observe by 
the way, sufficiently proves that John was no im- 
postor, or one who sought any thing for himself. 

Jesus, thus announced, preached publicly, work- 
ing numberless miracles, the reality of which was 
never called into question, especially healing all 
manner cf diseases, and raising at least three per- 
sons, but probably more, from the dead. Bnt the 
morality which he taught was so strict, and his ap- 
pearance so unassuming, that the generality of his 
countrymen would not receive him in the charac- 
ter of their promised Messiah. Many, however, 
who attended him more closely, had no doubt of 
this. But even these persons were so fixed in the 
popular belief that the Messiah was to be a king, 
that they were persuaded he only waited a proper 
opportunity to assume that character ; and when 
he was put to death without doing it, all their hopes 
were disappointed; and they evidently had no far- 
ther expectations from him, notwithstanding they 
never entertained the idea of his being an impos- 
tor. 

While Jesus lived his followers were numerous, 
and twelve of them constantly attended him, so that 
his person could not but have been perfectly well 

known 



320 



A DISCOURSE ON THE 



known to them, and to these he repeatedly appear- 
ed after his death, so as finally to leave no doubt 
©n any o{ their minds, that he was the same person 
who had been put to death. 

I shall nosy, d well a little on those circumstances 
which tend to give peculiar strength to tlie evidence 
of the resurrection of Jesus, and reply to some ob* 
jections which have been made to it. After this I 
shall shew that this historical evidence of the truth 
of revealed religion proves the truth of natural re- 
ligion, and conclude with a practical application of 
the doctrineo, 

la the first place I shall consider the circumstan- 
ces which give peculiar strength to the evidence of 
the resurrection of Jesus. 

1. His death was not private, among his friends,, 
but in public, and accomplished by his enemies,, 
who, we may be sure, would not leave their own 
great purpose unfinished, when it was in their 
power completely to- effect it. This we cannot 
doubt to have been the principal reason, in the plaif 
of divine providence, why Jesus was executed as a 
criminal, in consequence of the sentence of a pub- 
lic court of justice. After this, no reasonable 
doubt could be entertained of the reality of his 
death. Accordingly, it does not appear that any 

doubt 



RESURRECTION OF JESUS* 321 

doubt was entertained of it at the time, by those 
who were the best judges, ?nd who were, at the 
same time, the most interested to dispute the fact. 
And this is all that we can reasonably require at 
this day. 

It is true that Jesus expired sooner than other 
persons usually did in the same circumstances. 
But this might be owing to his having a more de- 
licate constitution, but especially to his having 
been so much exhausted by his severe agony in 
the garden the preceding night ; an agony which 
affected him so much that it would not have been 
extraordinary if he had actually died in consequence 
of it: since such consternation and terror as he 
appears to have been in is well known to have 
been, of itself, the cause of death to many persons. 

The death of Jesus was so evident to the soldi- 
ers who attended the execution, and who, no doubt 
(being used to the business) were sufficient judges 
of the signs of death, that, concluding him to be 
actually dead, they did not break his bones, as they 
did those of the other persons who were executed 
along with him. One of them, however, did what 
was fully equivalent to it ; for he thrust a spear in- 
to his side, so that blood and water evidently flow- 
ed out of the wound, Now though we may be at 

a loss 



322 



A DISCOURSE ON THJS 



a loss to account for the Water % it was certainly im- 
possible so to pierce the body as that blood should 
visibly and instantly flow from the wound, without 
piercing either the heart itself, or some large blood 
vessel, the rupture of which would have been mor- 
tal. 

After th--, Jesus was taken down from the cross, 
was swathed in spices, as the bodies of persons of 
distinction among the Jews usually were, was left 
in that state, without any appearance of life, depo- 
sited in a cold sepulchre, where he could have no 
assistance to bring him to life if any remains of life 
had been in him. Can we then have any doubt of 
Jesus having been unquestionablydead, when both 
friends and enemies had no doubt at the time on the 
subject. 

2. The circumstances cf the re-appearing of Je- 
sus aiter his crucifixion were such, as were calcu- 
lated to give the greatest satisfaction possible. 
The first of them were made when, it is evident, 
his disciples had no expectation whatever of any 
such event, so that they could not have been im- 
posed upon by their fond imaginations. For 
though Jesus had plainly apprized his disciples 
that he was to be put to death, and that he should 
rise again on the third day, they had so fixed a per- 
suasion 



RESURRECTION OF JESUS. 323 

suasion that he was to be a great king, and conse- 
quently not to die at all, that they probably conclud- 
ed (as he had been used to speak to them in figu- 
rative language) that by death he only meant some 
trial, or calamity, and that therefore by a resurrection 
he meant his emerging from it. But whatever 
their ideas were, it is most evident from the history 
that they had no expectation either of his death, or 
of his resurrection, and that Ills death only filled 
them with consternation and despair, and did not 
at all lead them to expect his resurrection. 

After Jesus had appeared in this unexpected 
manner to several of his disciples, viz. to Mary 
Magdalene, to the two disciples walking to Em- 
maus, to the ten who were assembled in the even- 
ing of the same day at Jerusalem, and probably to 
Peter, also, he appointed a time and place when he 

would meet them all, at a sufficient distance from 
the time of his speaking. Consequently, if any 
doubts remained on the minds of any of them, they 
had time to consider what satisfaction they requir- 
ed, and might, of course, be prepared to get that 
satisfaction, which it is evident he never refused 
them, even offering himself to be handled, and ex- 
amined by them at their leisure, and eating and 
drinking along with them. Indeed the marks of 

cruci- 



S24 a Discourse gn the 

crucifixion on his hands and feet, and the wound 
in his side, were abundantly sufficient to identify 
hi s person. What is recorded concerning ThomaA 
was probably the case of many others ; nor did hi§ 
incredulity exceed that of the rest, though he ex- 
pressed it in a stronger manner ; and the satisfac^ 
tion that Jesus gave to Thomas, he was, no doubt, 
as ready to give to any others of them* 

3. The appearances were sufficiently frequent, 
Viz. four times on the day of resurrection, first to 
Mary Magdalene, then to Peter, then to the tw<* 
disciples walking to Emmaus, then to the ten ia 
the absence of Thomas, and afterwards to all thfe 
eleven. In Galilee he first appeared unexpected-^ 
ly to Peter, John, and a few others, and then to 
more than five hundred at once. This must have 
been the great meeting by appointment, though 
particularly mentioned by Paul only. Another 
time he appeared to James, called his brother, or 
near relation, then to all the disciples (who were 
more than an hundred) residing at Jerusalem, when 
he went with them to the mount of Olives, and at 
leisure ascended above the clouds in their sight. 
Though these are all the appearances that are par- 
ticularly recorded, there were probably many more, 
for no one writer has mentioned all these, not even 

Paul, 



it &5#R RfXTION- OF JESUS. 32$ 

Paul, M ho seems to have intended to recite all that 
lie jcauld recollect at that time. None of these ap- 
pearances, I would also observe, were at midnight, 
; when persons, suddenly awaking from sleep, have 
not the perfect use of their senses and judgment ; 
but in the day ; -not at a distance, but quite near ; 
and not transient, but of a sufficient length of time. 

Surely, then, we are authorized to say that, as far 
as numbers were requisite to give evidence con- 
cerning any particular event, these were quite suffi- 
cient. For if the evidence of live hundred would 
not remove the doubts of any persons, neither 
would that of five thousand, or of any number 
whatever. They were also persons who had eve- 
ry character of unexceptionable witnesses, as they 
cannot be supposed to have been deceived them- 
selves, or to have had any motive to wish to impose 
upon others ; because they had no interest in do- 
ing it. 

4. The appearances were continued to a suffici- 
ent period, viz. the space of forty days, which was 
certainly time enough for any persons to recollect 
themselves, to get over any impression of surprize, 
and to be perfectly collected, so as to be put upon 
their guard against any cause of deception, and 
to examine and satisfy themselves at their full 
leisure. 

X Such 



S26 



A DISCOURSE ON TH1 



Sueb is the direct evidence of the resurrection 
of Jesus, than which nothing can well be conceiv- 
ed to be stronger, resting upon the testimony of a 
sufficient number of the most competent witnesses, 
not prepossessed in favour of an expecte d event, 
and who yet had time to recover from the surprize 
occasioned by an unexpected one. It was also a 
testimony to which they all adhered through life, 
notwithstanding the greatest temptation that men 
could lie under to tell a different story. 

I shall now consider some objections that have 
been made to this evidence. 

1st. It has been said that Jesus ought to have 
continued longer in a state of death, as till the bo- 
dy nad puirified, &x. so that the revival of it might 
have been the more extraordinary. In this view, 
no doubt, the evidence of a proper resurrection 
might have been made more striking. But then, 
though the evidence would have gained strength 
in one way, it would, by this very means, have 
lost much more in another. Not to say that a re- 
surrection from any state of unquestionable death, 
is as much a proof of a real miracle, as from any 
other state. That is, it required nothing less than 
a divine power, which is undoubtedly equal to the 
raising a man from death at any period, as well as 
the making of any number of new men. 

But 



RESURRRCTIOtt OF JESUS. 527 

But had the resurrection of Jesus been at any 
considerable distance of time, the evidence of his 
death, and consequently that of a miracle in his 
resurrection, had not been so clear. For then it 
might have been said that, in so long time, he 
might have recovered from the effect of a seeming 
death ; that his disciples had time to recover from 
their consternation, and lay their schemes for any 
particular purpose ; that, in so long an interval, the 
guard of the sepulchre might have been more ne- 
gligently kept, the seal on the stone might have 
been broken by some accident, and Jesus, being 
alive, might have been conveyed away, and time 
given for his appearance, as raised from the dead. 

But considering that Jesus was taken down from 
the cross, to all appearance at least dead, and left 
in the state of a corpse, swathed in spices, late on 
Friday evening, and then left alone, in a cold se- 
pulchre, it was absolutely impossible, whatever 
life may be supposed tQ have remained in him, 
that he should have appeared not only alive, but 
in perfect health and vigour, walking about, and 
conversing, as if nothing at all had been done to 
him, so early as at day break on the Sunday fol- 
lowing' In the evening of that day he walked 
from Jerusalem to Emmaus, which was about 

X 2 eight 



S2S -A DISCOURSE ON 

eight miles, and also back again, and as < speedily 
as two men in health, and who made all the^haste 
they could, were able to do .the same. This is 
the more, extraordinary, considering the wounds' 
that had been made in the feet of Jesus. If a man 
had suffered nothing more than this piercing of his 
feet, in the rough manner in which it was, no 
doubt, done in the act of crucifixion, this walk 
alone would have been absolutely impossible; 
and on the third day he would have been even less 
able to walk than on the first, from the inflammati- 
on of the wounds. There must, therefore, have 
been some miracle in -the case ; ^and if any mira- 
cle was performed, why not that of a real resur- 
rection ? 

It may be said that the evidence of a real mira- 
cle would have been still stronger, iff the bones of 
Jesus had been broken, like those of the two 
thieves. But as the piercing of his feet, the 
wound in his side, and even the hanging so long 
on the cross, must have effectually incapacitated 
him from walking abroad within two days, the 
breaking of his bones would have made no real 
addition to the evidence ; the impossibility of his 
walking abroad being really the same in both ca- 
ses. There would have been a difference only in 

the 



1ESURRECTI0N OT JESUS. 329 

the case of probabilities, which vary with circum- 
stances. But any one natural and absolute impos- 
sibility furnishes as strong an argument as another. 

In this very important view, therefore, the less 
was the time that intervened between Jesus' hav- 
ing been laid in the sepulchre, and his appearance 
alive and well out of it, the stronger is the evidence 
of a divine interposition, and unbelievers would 
have had more to object if that interval had been 
longer, than they can have at present. Jesus, we 
can now say, appeared alive and well sooner than it 
was possible, in the ordinary course of nature, that 
he could have done. It was before the guard 
could have been relaxed, before the disciples could 
have recovered from their consternation ; and espe- 
cially before it was possible for him to have reco- 
vered from the languishing state in which crucifix- 
ion must have left any man ; to say nothing of the 
wound he had received in his side, which alone, if 
it had missed any vital part, must have confined 
him, and have disabled him from going abroad, a 
very long time. 

2d. It may be proper to take some notice of the 
story that was propagated by the Jewish priests, 
who, when the guard fled at the appearance of the 
angel and the earthquake, bade them say that the 

X 3 disciples: 



330 A DISCOURSE Off THE 

dicciples of Jems came by night, aud stole r him away 
mink they slept. This, however, was both in the 
highest degree improbable, and what is more, it 
would not have answered any purpose ; so that 
they who had just before behaved in the most cow- 
ardly manner possible, must have risqued their 
lives for nothing. Indeed, such a story as this 
would hardly have been suggested by the enemies 
of Christianity, if any thing had beea. known at the 
time besides the earthquake, the appearance of the 
angel, and a suspicion, perhaps a report, of the ab- 
sence of the bod}vand if any thing had occured to 
them more plausible at the time. So weak a de- 
fence almost amounts to a confession of the weak-, 
ness of the cause to be supported by it. 

The improbability alone of any considerable 
number of men all sleeping, whose business it was 
to keep awake, and not more than two or three 
hours, for which they had time enough to prepare 
themselves by sleeping the preceding part of the 
night (for this was the last watch, at break of day) and 
when the penalty of sleeping was death ; and that 
they should all sleep so soundly, as that the rolling 
of al arge stone (so large that several women des- 
paired of being able to move it) and this quite near 
to them, should not awake any one of them, is far 
too great to be admitted. 

The 



RESURRECTION 01 JESUS. 331 

The disciples of Jesus, if such a scheme had 
come into their minds, dispirited and dispersed as 
they were, could have had no expectation of accom- 
plishing it undiscovered, even if there had been 
no guard at the sepulchre. The city of Jerusalem 
was at that time full of people, beyond any thing 
that we can have an idea of at present, being the 
time of passover, and when the moon was at the 
full, so that numbers of people (the houses of the 
city not being sufficient to receive them) would be 
walking about at all hours ; and the sepulchre was 
so near to the city, that it is now inclosed within 
the walls. In that climate, and at that time of the 
year, there was no inconvenience in passing the 
whole night, and even sleeping in the open air. 
The preceding night Jesus and his disciples had 
passed in a neighbouring garden ; and it is very 
probable that they had done the same before, since 
Judas expected to find them there. In these cir- 
cumstances, the disciples could not have had any 
reasonable expectation of removing the body un- 
discovered. 

Besides, what would the removal of a mere 
corpse, admitting that they might have had the 
courage, and address, to succeed in so unpromis- 
ing an attempt, have availed them. There would 

X 4 l^ave 



532 A DISCOURSE Otf THE 

have been no evidence of a resurrection, unless the 
dead man could have been exhibited alive, wMch 
it was certainly out of their power to do. 

Ifafewof the disciples of Jesus had been so 
abandoned, and at the same time so stupid, as to 
have attempted an imposition of this kind, an im- 
position from which they could not have derived 
any imaginable advantage, now could they haV6 
made others believe a resurrection of which they 
saw no evidence? Would the mere absence of the 
tody have satisfied Thomas (who, though one of 
the twelve, was certainly not in the secret) the five 
hundred who went by appointment into Galilee,- or 
the thousands who were converted by Peter inime- 
diately after this event ; and would none Of them 
have abandoned so groundless a faith ill time of 
persecution f Would not torture, and the prospect 
of death, have extorted a confession of the cheat 
from some of those who were in the Secret. 

Lastly* what prospect could the disciples of Je- 
sus have had of being able to carry on the seheme 
that was begun by their master, without his power 
of working miracles, of which they must Have 
known themselves to be destitute. It was* no 
doubt, the possession of this power, arid this alone, 
that emboldened them, disappointed and dispirit- 

ed 



RESURRECTION OF JESUS. 



€cf as they had been before, to persist in the same 
scheme, and without this they would certainly 
have absconded, and have been no more heard of. 
They were neither orators nor warriors, and there- 
fore were destitute of all the natural means of suc- 
cess. 

3. The objection that has been urged in the 
strongest manner, and to which I must, therefore, 
give the more particular attention, is, that, after his 
resurrection, Jesus should have appeared as pub- 
licly as he had done before his death, and especially 
in the presence of his judges, and of his enemies. 
This, they say, would have satisfied them, and the 
whole country, and of course all the w T orld, so that 
ho doubt would have remained on the subject. 

But the resurrection of Jesus himself might not 
have conciliated those who were only the more ex- 
asperated at the resurrection of Lazarus, at which 
themselves were present, from whatever source 
their obstinacy and incredulity arose. The whole 
story, how well soever attested, might have been 
laughed at in Greece and at Rome, where the Jews 
and every thing relating to them, were, without anv 
examination into the subject, held in the greatest 
contempt. Besides, there would have been a want 
of dignity, and an appearance of insult, unworthy 

rf 



A DISCOURSE OK THE 



of oar Saviour's character, in thus ostentatiously 
exhibiting himself before his enemies^ and as it 
were mocking at their attempts to kill him. 

I would farther observe, that though Jesus did 
not appear to all \m e nemies, he did appear to one 
of them 7 and one whom no person will doubt to 
have been as prejudiced, and as inveterate, as any 
of them, viz. PdiiL Now, as this enemy of Chris- 
tianity was convinced of the truth of the resurrec- 
tion, by Jesus appearing to him in person, we can- 
not doubt but that, if it had suited the plan of di- 
vine providence, aUthe Jews might have been con- 
vinced by the same means, and have become chris- 
tians. 

But admitting that the consequence of such a 
public appearance of Jesus would have been the 
conviction of all that country, and of all that age, it 
would have been an unfavourable circumstance 
with respect to the evidence at this distance of 
time, and still more so in remoter ages. And the 
great object certainly was, that this important event 
should be so circumstanced, as that it should pre- 
serve its credit unimpaired to the end of time. 

If we suppose that mankind in the most distant 
ages of the world had been asked, what kind of evi- 
dence would satisfy thcm 9 with respect to the reali- 
ty 



RESURRECTION OF JESUS. * 33$ 

ty of an event which took place several thousand 
years before they were born, they would certainly 
say ; that, to give satisfaction to them who had no 
opportunity of examining into the fact themselves, 
it should have been so circumstanced, as that be- 
sides a sufficient number of persons attesting the 
truth of it, friends and enemies, believers and un- 
believers, should clearly appear to have been suffi- 
ciently interested to examine into the truth, while 
the fact was recent, and therefore while it was in 
their power to investigate it thoroughly. And this 
could only be in circumstances in which some 
should believe and others not, and in which the 
believers should have every temptation to renounce 
their belief, and their enemies every motive to de- 
tect the imposture. But this could not have been 
the case if the resurrection of Jesus had been uni- 
versally believed at the time, or in that age, and 
consequently there had been no early persecution 
of christians. 

In these circumstances, it might have been said 
by unbelievers in remote ages, that, as no opposi- 
tion was made to the progress of Christianity, it did 
not appear to them that the reality of those facts on 
which the belief of it is founded had been suffici- 
ently enquired into at the time, that it might have 

been 



Av DISCOURSE ON" THE 



Been found convenient (for reasons now unknown* 
atid at this distance- inscrutable) to 1 make- a change 
in the religion of the country , and that, as -the-ru- 
lers of it adopted the measure, it might, for any 
thing that appeared, have been originally a scheme 
oUheirs ; and that when the governors of any coun- 
try interest themselves to promote any measure, it 
is always in their power to impose upon the vul- 
gar : that private orders, for example^ might have 
been given, that Jesus, though suspended on a* 
cross, should not be much hurt ; that the sepulchre; 
being under ground, might have proper apar : t- 
znents adjoining to it, where there might be every 
accommodation that was requisite for his complete 
recovery and refreshment ; and that a few leading 
persons being in the secret, the rest might be im- 
posed upon to believe the story of a resurrection, 
or any thing else. 

Thus the origin of Christianity, it might have/ 
been said, did not materially differ from that of the 
several species of heathenism or Mahometanism, 
which the people first believed without any proper 
enquiry, and to which their descendants adheredi 
because they had been received by their ancestors 
before them. 

But the circumstances attending the actual pro- 
mulgation 



RESURRECTION OF JESUS* 337 

tnulgation of Christianity were such, as that nothing 
of this kind can ever be advanced by any unbeliev- 
ers, at all acquainted with the history of the times ; 
becau»: it is evident, that Jesus Christ, and his re- 
ligion, and especially the account of his resurrecti- 
on, on whkh the whole of it hinged, immediately 
engaged the closest attention of great numbers,, and 
that thousands felt themselves interested in the 
highest degree to examine into the truth of it. 

In the first place, the -apostles, and other primi- 
tive christirais, were certainly interested not to 
give up their e:se, their little fortunes, and their 
lives, for an idle tab.. And, on the other hand, the 
chief priests and rulers of the Jews, who had beea 
so much exasperated at Jesus tis to procure hb 
death, even with some risque to themselves, from 
his popularity with the common people, would 
feel themselves more strongly interested to sup- 
press his followers, and his religion, after his death, 
and this they evidently did, without losing any 
time in the business. 

Not more than fifty days elapsed between r the 
crucifixion of Jesus and the most open publication 
of the account of his resurrection, an event spoken 
of even before his death, against any imposition 
with-respect to which all possible precautions had 

been 



A DISCOURSE ON TKS 



been taken, and concerning which may rumorsr 
must have prevailed from the passover to pente- 
cost (for no secrecy was enjoined vith respect to it) 
from the very day of his appearance. On the day 
of Pentecost, however, it was boldly asserted by 
such a number of persons, who were r/itnesscs of 
the fact, that some thousands (who had tliemsdtves 
seen the miracles of Jesfis) were fully convinced of 
its truth, and gave public testimony of their faidi 
by being immediately baptized. 

Observe in how full and explicit a manner Peter, 
on this occasion, gave his testimony, Acts ii. 22. 
Ye men of Israel, hear my words. Jesus of Naza- 
reth, a man approved of God among you by miracles^ 
and wonders, and signs , which God did by him t in 
the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know ; him ye 
have taken, and with wicked hands have crucified 
and slain. This Jesus hath God raised up, where- 
of we all (and about one hundred and twenty were 
then with him) are witnesses. 

The boldness of the apostles in giving this pub- 
lic testimony to the resurrection of Jesus, a testi- 
mony which his audience evidently could not con- 
tradict, exasperated the rulers of the country to 
the highest de gree ; and the event being then recent, 
they would, no doubt, do every thing that men in 

power, 



RESURRECTION OF JESUS." 3S9 

power, cop!<' , id in order to discover the cheat, if 
•any such h 

This ei ceavour to suppress Christianity began 
in the very country, and in the very city, in nhich 
it was first promulgated, v,h; re Jesus had always 
appeared in public, and consequently wbei?e him- 
self, and all tha ; he had done, v/cre kxiown to thou- 
sands. And this violin &nposit5oj^ than which 
we know of nothing in dvc h st^ry cf mankind more 
violent, and which begun as early as it was possi- 
ble for it to begin, was continued by f he Jews, with 
very few interruptions, till it was taken up by the 
Romans, who were alarmed at the rapid spread of 
the new religion, which soon appeared to be hostile 
to all the old cnes, on the observance of which it 
was universally imagined that the temporal pros- 
perity of states depended. And this persecution 
of Christianity did not end till about three hundred- 
years after its promulgation, that is, till all farther 
scrutiny into the facts was equally impossible and 
needless. 

Did not this situation of things most strongly 
invite all persons to make the most rigorous inqui- 
ry into the truth of the facts on which Christianity 
w r as founded, and especially that of the resurrecti- 
on of Jesus? Would not all the five hundred as 

long; 



S.4'0 I .D-IS-eoU-RSfi ON THE 

long. as they lived (and according to Paul many of 
them were living in the year 52 , and the apostle 
John, it is supposed, did not die till about A. D. 
90.) be continually speaking of it, and examined 
concerning it. This would certainly be the case 
if any such event had happened at this day, and 
human nature, we cannot doubt to have been the 
same in all ages. 

What, then, could any of those who are now 
unbelievers in Christianity have done, if they had 
been living at the time of the promulgation of it, 
more than other unbelievers then did, who, what- 
ever else they might do^ or say, could not discover 
any marks of imposture. No other facts in the 
whole compass of history, we may safely venture 
to assert, ever underwent a thousandth part of the 
investigation that, from the nature of the circum- 
stances, these must have done ; and, what is of 
particular consequence, at the time when the in- 
vestigation was the most easy. 

Though Jesus did not appear in public after his 
resurrection, the miracle of the descent of the holy 
Spirit, enabling the apostles and other disciples to 
speak intelligibly languages which they had not 
been taught, and also many other miracles wrought 
by them, were as public as possible ; and every 

miracle 



INSURRECTION or JESUS. 341 

miracle wrought by the apostles was, in fact, a 
proof of the resurrection of their master. If his 
mission, confirmed by, and implying the truth of, 
his resurrection, was not from God, neither was 
theirs ; for both were part of the same scheme, and 
therefore they imply one another. 

Thus our faith does not rest on the testimony of 
the four evangelists, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and 
John, who wrote the history of Christ, and of the 
promulgation of Christianity. We have, in fact, 
the testimony of the age in which they lived, to 
the great events recorded by them. These books, 
or ever so many 0/ the same nature, could never 
have been received, and transmitted to us, as au- 
thentic histories, in the circumstances that I have 
described, if the contents of them could have been 
questioned. 

The inconsistencies that we discover in the ac- 
counts of the four evangelists imply no defect in 
the evidence; being no greater than are usually 
found in the narratives of any important event writ- 
ten by different persons ; who will always attend 
chiefly to what is most essential to the story, and 
less to the minute circumstances of it; and these 
narratives were all written' a considerable time after 
the event. But the most important consideration 



342 



A DISCOURSE On THE" 



is, that tliesc ■ histories were not the cause of the 
belief of the resurrection of Jesus, but were them- 
selves among the consequences of that belief, the 
proper evidence having produced its full effect 
long before they were written; so that it could 
not have been deficient in any material re- 
spect. 

That all mankind were not immediately con- 
vinced of the truth of Christianity may be suffici- 
ently accounted for; as, from the little interest 
that great numbers take in any thing relating to 
religion ; from -the aversion which the greatest 
part of mankind have to examine into any thing 
that is new, when it is hostile to that which is old, 
and their listening to any idle tales to the prejudice 
of those who teach it, which we see every day. 
And if the powerful, the learned, and the polite, 
whose prejudices, especially against any thing that 
originates with the illiterate, are well known- to be, 
as strong as any prejudices whatever, would not 
read or think seriously on the subject (which was- 
evidently the case with the generality of the Greek 
and Roman philosophers, and other persons of dis- 
tinction at. that time) many would be influenced by 
their example, and join in a blind opposition to 

. \ what, 



RESURRRCTIOK Of JESttS. -343 

M hat they had never considered, from imagining 
that it was not worth their while to consider it. 

Besides all this, we are to consider the great 
numbers who w r ere, directly or indirectly, interest- 
ed in the support of the old established systems of 
religion, who would feel themselves exasperated, 
and, therefore without any inquiry into the merits 
of the case, would, with all their might, oppose the 
progress of the new religion. Such would be the 
case with many persons of eminence and influence ; 
and the lower orders, the mob, might be inflamed 
by any idle tales. This is nothing more than the 
common fate of all reformers, and all reformations 
in matters of religion. It flows from the common 
principles of human nature, which are the same in 
all ages, and which operate in the same manner in 
all similar circumstances. 

In this state things continued as long as they 
possibly could, the friends and the enemies of 
Christianity being equally interested to discover 
the truth, while the facts were at all recent, and 
most easy to be investigated ; and the new religion 
established itself gradually, as, if founded on truth, 
and unaided by power, it naturally would do in 
such circumstances. The attention of the more 
dispassionate and disinterested was gradually gain. 

Y2 ed, 



344 



A DISCOURSE CI? THE 



ed, and converts were in time made of Some men 
of learning, who were capable of writing in de- 
fence of Christianity, and whose writings made 
other converts, both philosophers and others. 

At length the converts to Christianity in all pla- 
ces, and especially in those that were the nearest td 
the scene of the transactions, were so numerous, 
that the old religion sunk into general contempt 
and neglect ; and in less then three hundred year* 
after the promulgation of Christianity, we see that, 
notwithstanding the deep-rooted attachment of all 
the heathen world to the religion of their ancestors, 
Constontine could safely declare himself a christi- 
an, without any apprehension from his competitors^ 
who endeavoured to avail themselves of that cir- 
cumstance. None of them, however, were able, 
by this means, to throw any considerable obstacle 
in his way, and Jie reigned almost in peace, and a 
longer tinie than any of the emperors after Au- 
gustus. 

This is a clear proof of the preceding spread of 
Christianity, and of the hold which it had got on the 
minds of the people in general ; and this was in 
the most disadvantageous circumstances that can 
be imagined, if it had been an imposture. But 
this most striking evidence of the truth of Christia- 
nity 



RESURRECTION OF JE$tT9c 345 

$ity we could not now have had, if the evidence 
of the resurrection of Jesus had been such, as to 
have convinced all the Jews and all the world as 
soon as he appeared. What had been the most 
satisfactory to them would have been (from the na- 
ture of the thing) the least so to us* 

When the persecution of Christianity began, the 
fccts on which it was founded were recent, so that 
it was in the power of men of sense and inquiry to 
satisfy themselves concerning them ; and we have 
seen that they were sufficiently interested so to do. 
But if one whole generation should have been, as 
we say, infatuated, so as to have taken up the be- 
lief of these facts without any sufficient reason, the 
next generation might have been sensible of this, 
and have made more diligent search (and then it 
was not too late) and not have thrown away their 
fortunes and their lives for nothing, as their fathers 
had done before them. But notwithstanding this, 
every inquiry continued to make more converts, 
till, without any aid from power, or from learning 
in the first instance, the new religion completely 
established itself on the ruins of the old, and was 
embraced by persons of all ranks without distincti- 
on, the rich and the poor, the philosophers and the 
vulgar* 

Y3 K 



A EISCOITIISE ON THE 



If all this could take place without th«re being 
any truth in the history of the miracles, the death, 
and the resurrection of Jesus, it must have been 
more extraordinary, nay, strictly speaking, more 
miraculous, than those events themselves. For 
human nature was the same then, that it is now ;- 
and that ?nen, such as we now find them to be, 
should, in the circumstances that I have now de- 
scribed, have been impressed as the early converts 
to Christianity were, that they should have beert 
induced to believe a storv which thev mmitt easily 
have discovered to be destitute of all foundation, 
and have sacrificed so much as they did to their be- 
lief, must have been the greatest of all miracles 
no natural cause being adequate to such an effect. 
It must also have been so stupendous a miracle 
(operating on the mtnds of men, which is more zjb 
traordinary than any effect that is apparent to the- 
senses) without any rational end or object. Nay 
the Divine Being must have wrought this miracle 
with no other view than to puzzle and confound 
his creatures, and to involve some of the most de- 
serving of them in the greatest calamities. On 
the other hand, the miracles which gave birth to 
Christianity had the greatest and noblest of all ob- 
jects, the instruction and reformation of the world. 

la 



RESURRECTION OF JESUS. 



347 



In fact r the proof of Christianity supplies the only 
probable method of accounting for past and pre- 
sent appearances, and therefore what a true philoso- 
pher, whose object it is to inquire into the causes of 
things, will adopt, in preference to any other. 

It was, however, you clearly see, of the greatest 
advantage to the evidence of the truth of Christiani- 
ty in distant ages, that the bulk of the Jewish nati- 
on should from the beginning have been hostile to 
it ; while at the same time the belief of such num- 
bers of them, prejudiced as they must all have 
been against it, is an abundant proof of its truth. 
But when, by the long continued enmity of the 
Jews to the christians, it shall be sufficiently evi- 
dent, that it was no scheme of that nation in gene- 
ral, and that, so far from giving irany aid in its in- 
fant state, they discountenanced it as much as it 
was in their power to do it ; if ever they should 
be converted to Christianity, before or after their re- 
turn to their own country (both which events are 
foretold in the scriptures) it will be such a clear 
fulfilment of prophecy, as it seems probable that 
no power of incredulity will be able to resist ; and 
then, as Paul says, Rom. xi. 15. If the casting 
away of the Jews be the reconciling of the world,. 

Y 4 what 



348 



A DISCOURSE ON THE 



ivhat shall the receiving of them be, but life from. 

the dead? 

I shall conclude this part of my discourse with 
observing, that the truth of Christianity is founded 
upon plain facts, such as any persons who had 
the use of their senses might be judges of. Opi- 
nions of other kinds men may become so fully per- 
suaded of, as even to die for them, as well as chris- 
tians have done for their religion ; but then the 
nature and ground of their faith have been differ- 
ent ; they having been either misled by an implicit 
faith in persons who they thought could not mis- 
lead them, or by reasoning <mrong. That Maho- 
met, for example, or Svvedenborg, had divine mis- 
sions, many might be induced to believe on their 
own confident assertions, having a good opinion of 
the men ; or they might imagine that the con- 
quests of Mahomet and his followers, could not 
have been so great and so rapid, if his pretensions 
had not been well founded. But is this such kind 
of evidence as that on which we believe the truth 
of Christianity, which neither requires that implicit 
f&ith be given to any person, nor any reasoning, 
except the plainest of all, viz. that if any person do 
such works as God only could enable him to do, 
iie roust be empowered by God to do them, and 
' the 



RESURRECTION OP JESUS* 549 

the evidence of their own senses that such works 
were done ? The truth of Christianity rests on the 
evidence of such visible marks of divine power as 
the instant curing pf the most dangerous disor- 
ders, and the raising of persons, and especially of 
Jesus himself, irom a state of actual death, with re- 
spect to which men who had only eyes, ears and 
other natural senses, could not possibly be deceiv- 
ed ; whereas no visible miracle of any kind was so 
much as pretended to by either Mahomet or Swc 
denborg. 

We also see the great difference of the ground 
of belief in these cases in the time that was requisite 
to produce their effect. Mahomet was several 
years in persuading any besides a very few persons, 
particularly connected with him, and who had a 
prospect of being gainers by his success, of his di- 
vine mission, and it was thirteen years before he 
had followers enough to venture to take the field 
with them, so as to attack a caravan, to which they 
were led by the hope of plunder. As to Sweden- 
borg, though he died several years ago, his follow- 
ers are only just now beginning to make them- 
selves conspicuous. Oil the contrary, it is evident 
that Jesus might, if he had been so disposed, have 
mastered as large an army as he chose within a 

moftth 



350 



A DISCOURSE ON THE 



month or ttfc> after he appeared in a public cha- 
racter. 

Some are so incredulous as to say, that, admit- 
ting all the facts recited in the gospel history, viz. 
that the apostles, and other disciples of Jesus, had 
no doubt of his resurrection, and that their previ- 
ous incredulity was overcome by the most satis- 
factory evidence ; yet that it was more probable 
that their senses, that of feeling, as well as those of 
seeing and hearing, were repeatedly imposed upon, 
than that there should have been a proper resurrec-- 
tion of a man who had been dead. But such a 
deception as this could not have been effected^ 
without a miracle , and for what end could such a 
miracle have been wrought? As it had all the ef- 
fect of a real resurrection, it is liable to all the same 
objections, and therefore if the one was produced^ 
the other mighj:. be also.- 

If any person will say either that the appearances 
recorded in the New Testament are no proofs of a- 
real resurrection, or (which has also been said) 
that the real resurrection of Jesus would be no« 
proof of his divine mission, and of the truth of his 
religion, so that we could not thence infer the* cer- 
tainty of our own resurrection, they must be so? 
constituted, as that no evidence whatever can pro- 
duce* 



RESURRECTION OF JESUS. 351 

duce that conviction in their minds. The Divine 
Being himself (and I must in this argument sup- 
pose that there is such a Being) could not do it. 
For all that he could do to attest the divine mission 
of any person could only be his enabling him to 
work miracles, or to do such things as only he 
himself, the author of nature, could do. But no 
person, in the age of the apostles, or any subse* 
quent one, ever believed the facts, and doubted the 
conclusion ; so that the miracles were fully ade- 
quate to the purpose of them, and since all men 
are no doubt constituted alike, the present objec- 
tors must be under the influence of a prejudice that 
nothing can overcome, and must be a case exactly 
similar to insanity. 

I now proceed to shew that the- solution of such 
difficulties as these, respecting the truth of reveal- 
ed religion, may assist those who have similar diffi- 
culties with respect to natural religion ; and alt 
great moral truths have, directly or indirectly, a 
connexion with each other. 

Now it seems to be impossible for any person 
to be convinced by historical evidence, which is 
the most intelligible of all evidence whatever, of 
the miracles, the death, and. resurrection of Christ, 
and at the same time to have any doubt of the be- 
ing 



552 



A DISCOURSE OTt THE 



log and the providence of Gon, because the one 
evidently implies the other. If Christ actually 
wrought miracles, and, after dying, rose from the 
dead, there must have been a power that enabled 
him so to do ; and this must have been an mtelli*. 
gent, or a designing, and a benevolent power, the 
laws of nature having been changed for great and 
good purposes. 

it is in vain for any person to say, as some how. 
ever have done, that till we are satisfied with re- 
spect to the being of a God, which, in the order of 
mature, is the first of all religious truths, it is to na 
purpose to inquire into the evidence of Christiani- 
ty. For though it be most convenient to teac/i y 
and to consider •, any systems of truths in a certain 
order,, the discovery of them is altogether indepen- 
dent of that order. In this case, the first may }w 
tasty, and the last first. 

An Englishman, for example, may say, and? 
plausibly enough, that he ought to understand his, 
own country, before he explores any other. But 
it may happen that he shall be carried to Asia* 
Africa, or America,, before he can have seen much; 
of his own country, and thereby have a better op- 
portunity of exploring them dian his own. Or r 
Considering the sun as the centre of our system 



INSURRECTION OP JESUS, 553 

lie might fancy that, till we know what that great 
body is, it is absurd to give much attention to the 
jrfanets, which depend unon it. But in this way 
he might live and die without acquiring any know- 
ledge of them at all. Even the several propositi- 
ons in geometry may be learned in a very different 
order, as the different treatises on that branch of 
science evince, and yet be all equally well under- 
stood at the last. Id like manner may men attain 
to the knowledge of God, and of his providence^ 
without beginning with the study of them. 

An atheist is a person who believes that there is 
no Being who established the present order of na* 
ture, but that all things have always been as they 
now are, and that all deviations from this order are 
absolutely impossible, and therefore incredible. 
Consequently, any clear proof of an actual deviati, 
on from this order of nature overturns his w hole 
system. The atheist says that, since we must 
suppose something to have been uncaused, w e may 
just as well content ourselves with saying that the 
present visible system had no cause, as suppose 
that something still greater than this sy stein, and 
the cause of it, had no cause - } since by ascending 
higher, we get no nearer to the solution of cur 
great difficulty, viz, the cause of what exi?:s, Bu t 

the 



A DISCOURSE OH TH£ 



the proof of any miracle is decisively in favour of 
the actual existence of a power unquestionably 
above the common course of nature, and different 
from it. This is no less than a demonstration, 
that the reasoning of the atheist, however specious, 
is in fact wrong ; and that, difficult as it may be 
to conceive the self-existence, as we say, of a Be- 
ing greater than the visible universe, such a Being 
certainly does exist. I shall endeavour to make 
this argument still plainer by an illustration. 

Let a person unacquainted with clocks, watches', 
and other machines, be introduced into a room 
containing many of them, all in regular motion. 
He sees no maker of these machines, and knows 
nothing of their internal structure ; and as he sees 
them all to move with perfect regularity, he may 
say, on the principles of the atheistical system, 
that they are automata, or self-moving machines ; 
and so long as aft these machines continue in regu- 
lar motion, and he knows nothing of the making 
of them, or the winding of them up, this theory 
-may appear plausible. 

But let us suppose diat, coming into this room 
again and again, and, always attending to the ma- 
chines, he shall find one of them much oat of or- 
-4cr, and at length its motion shall iatirely cease ; 

but 



RESURRECTION 



OF JESUS. 



355 



but that, after continuing in this state some time, 
he shall again find it in perfect order, moving as 
ever. Will he not then conclude that some per- 
son, whom he has not seen, but probably the ma- 
ker of the machines, had been in the room in his 
absence ? The restoration of motion to the disor- 
dered machine would impress his mind with the 
idea of a maker of them in a much more forcible 
manner than his observing the regular constructi- 
on, and uniform motion of them. It must con- 
vince him of the existence of some person capable 
of regulating, and therefore probably of making, 
these machines, whether he should ever see this 
person or not 

Thus do miracles prove the existence of a God 
in a shorter and more satisfactory manner than the 
observation of the uninterrupted course of nature. 
If there be a Being who can controul the course of 
nature, there must be one who originally establish- 
^ it, in whatever difficulty we may still be left 
with respect to his nature, and the manner of hk 
existence. We are compelled by a greater diffi. 
culty to admit a less, though acknowledged to be 
great. At ail events, we see in mirafcles that there 
certainly exists a Being superior to ourselves, or 
any thing that is the object of our senses. 

And 



356 



A DISCOURSE Otf TKi 



And thus is demonstrated the wisdom of the 
general plan of divine providence, in ordering that 
the laws of nature should not always proceed 
without interruption, but in providing that the at- 
tention of mankind should sometimes be arrested 
by miraculous events ; since they are eminently 
calculated to lead the minds of men to the consi- 
deration of a superior Being, as the cause of all- 
events, ordinary and extraordinary. Thus also is' 
evident the folly and ignorance of those who think, 
all miraculous events to be so absurd, as to be in 
their own nature incredible, and therefore that no 
evidence in their favour can deserve the least atten- 
tion. If the reverence of mankind for their maker 
be of any use, or of any consequence to their hap- 
piness, which undoubtedly it is, occasional mira- 
cles have the greatest propriety, and therefore* 
great antecedent credibility, though all the particu- 
lar facts require very circumstantial evidence, be- 
cause they are not of frequent occurrence. 

I now come to draw some practical inference* 
from the doctrine of the resurrection of Jesus. 

Such is the evidence of the resurrection of Je- 
sus, exclusive of the general evidence of Christiani- 
ty, or of the miracles of Jesus, and those of the 
apostles after him, which are also another confirm- 
ation 



RESURRECTION OF JESUS. 357 



lition of the truth of this one great event. And, 
surely, it appears that the circumstances attending 
the resurrection of Jesus were so ordered by di- 
vine providence, that it is not in the power of man 
to imagine any change in them that, according to 
the known laws of evidence, would make it more 
credible than it is with respect to distant ages. 
Every objection that has hitherto been made to this 
evidence has led to a more rigorous examination 
of the circumstances ; and the consequence of this, 
has always been an addition of light upon the evi- 
dence, and a greater confirmation of it. We are 
therefore abundantly authorized to consider our 
faith as founded upon a rock, which no future ob- 
jection will be able to shake. 

Since, therefore, we may consider it as a certain 
and unquestionable fact, that Christ is risen from 
the dead, we may likewise, with the apostle, consi- 
der him as the first fruits of them that sleep, or that 
his resurrection is a pledge and assurance of our 
own, which it is the great object of Christianity to 
inforce. Christ is called the first fruits, and these 
are the forerunners of a general harvest. After- 
wards, says the apostle, they that are Christ's, at 
his coming. For Christ has only left the present 
scene for a time. If there be any truth in the facts 
Z the 



A DISCOURSE ON THS 



the evidence of which has now been laid before you, 
lie will certainly come again, and that with power 
and great glory, to raise the dead, and to give unto 
every man according to his works. 

Let us, therefore, my christian brethren, be con- 
tin a ally looking for this, great event, this great day 
of God, as it is sometimes called. For to all of us 
it is nigh, even at the doors. Long as the sleep of 
death may really be, it will appear to each cf us tq 
be only a moment. In death we, as it were, only 
shnt our eyes upon this world, and immediately 
open them in another, with die brightest and most 
glorious prospects, if our conversation has been 
such as becomes the gospel, but with the most 
gloomy and dreadful ones, if this great light hath 
come into the world, and we have loved darkness ra* 
ther than light, because our deeds were evil. 

The mere profession of Christianity will avail us 
nothing, because it lays us under stronger obligati- 
ons to a virtuous life, and therefore will aggravate 
our condemnation if we do not live as, by ranking 
with christians, we profess to live. Better, far bet- 
ter, would it be for us, at the day of judgment, tobe 
able to say we had never heard of Christ, than na- 
ming the name of Christ, or professing his religion, 
not to have been thereby led to depart from iniquity > 

and 



RESUgRECTION OF JESUS. 359 

and to be to him a peculiar people zealous of good 
works. 

Christianity is much less to be considered as a 
system of doctrines, than as a rule of practice. 
Nay the doctrines themselves (the chief of which 
is that of a future state of retribution) have no other 
object than the regulation of our lives. What the 
great duties of the christian life are, we are^all suf- 
ficiently acquainted with. They arc comprehend- 
ed in two great precepts, the first of which is the 
4 love ol God with all our hearts, implying an entire 
and chearful devotedness to his will, in doing and in 
suffering, in life and in death. And the second is 
the loving of our neighbour as ourselves, implying 
a readiness, in all cases, to do to others as we should 
think it right that they should do to us. We 
should all habitually consider one another as bre- 
thren, the children of the same great universal pa- 
rent, the care of the same benevolent providence, as 
training up in the same school of moral discipline 
here, and as heirs together of the same glorious 
hope of eternal life hereafter. 

To fit us for these devotional and social duties, 
we should also be careful to exercise a constant 
government over our appetites and passions, that, 
Z 2 as 



380 



4 DISCOURSE, &C. 



as the apostle says, we may preserve oursdves as 
the unpolluted temples of the spirit of God 

Thus, my christian brethren, knowing our duty, 
happy shall we be if we do it ; that when our Lord, 
after his long absence, shall return, to take an ac- 
count of his servants, when our eyes, and when every 
eye, shall see him, we may have confidence, and not 
be ashamed before him at his coming ; but having 
duly improved the talents committed to each of us t 
may hear from his mouth the joyful sentence, 
Well done, good and faithful servants* enter ye into 
the joy of your Lord* 



561 

THX 

IMPORTANCE 

or 

FREE INQUIRY. 



He that hath ears to hear let him Iiear. 

Matt. XIII. ft 

In these words our Lord several times addressed 
his audience, in order to summon their utmost at- 
tention to his doctrine. It was a call to make use 
of their reason, in a case in which it was of the 
greatest consequence to apply it, and in which they 
were likewise capable of applying it with the great- 
est effect, viz. the investigation of religious truth. 
Hear and understand is another of his modes of 
calling the attention of his audience to the instruc- 
tion that he gave them. And when he thought 
them deficient in their attention to his doctrine, and 
they did not appear to understand what he laid be- 
fore them, he was not backward even in his re- 
proaches on that account. Are ye yet also without 

Z 3 under- 



362 



THE IMPORTANCE 



micler standing ?. Do ye not yet understand t His 
language that he once made use of, evidently im- 
plying some degree of surprize and displeasure. 
Matt. xv. 16, 17. And even in a case of conside- 
rable difficulty, viz. the right application of scrip- 
ture prophecies, he said to the two disciples going 
to Emmjtus, O fools, and slow of heart, to believe 
all that the prophets have spoken, Luke xxiv. 25. 

The apostles continued the same earnest addres- 
ses to die reason of their converts, and Paul in par- 
ticular gave the greatest exercise to the under- 
standings of his hearers and readers, by very ab- 
scruse argumentation on subjects relating to reli- 
gion. His epistles to the Romans, to the Galati- 
ans, and to the Hebrews, are chiefly argumenta- 
tive ; and those to the Corinthians, and some others 
are vcsy much so. For, after the death of our Sa- 
viour, new cases had occurred, and new difficul- 
ties had arisen, for which die instructions he had 
given them were not sufficient. And had the a- 
postles continued to live to the present day, other 
cases would no doubt, have occurred, in which 
their own reasoning powers, and those of their dis- 
ciples would have found continual exercise. 

Indeed, it seems to be the design of Providence 
that the present state should be a theatre of constant 

exercise 



OF TREE INOJJIRT. 363 

exercise and discipline, and that, not cf our passions 
only, but also of our understandings; that we may 
make continual advances in knowledge, as well as 
in virtue ; to prepare us, no doubt, for our proper 
sphere of action in a future world ; in which, we 
may assure ourselves, we shall find abundant exer- 
cise, as well for the moral virtues that we acquire 
here, as for that habit of patient inquiry, and close 
investigation of truth, and likewise that candour 
with respect to those that differ from us, w hich it 
is our duty to acquire and cultivate here below. 

Man is a creature whose distinguishing excel- 
lence is the reason which God has given him, no 
less than his capacity fcr moral virtues. The per- 
fection of man, therefore, must consist as well in 
the improvement of his reason, and the acquisition 
of knowledge, as in the attainment of all moral vir- 
tue. We should then always keep our attention 
awake to every interesting subject of discussion; 
and whenever religious truth is directly or indirect- 
ly concerned, imagine that we hear our Saviour 
himself calling out to us, and saying, He that hath 
ears to hear let hhn hear. 

The subject of free inquiry, I am well aware, is 
a very trite one, and especially as one of the usual 
topics of the fifth of November, on which it is cus- 
2. 4 tomary 



364 



THE IMPORTANCE 



ternary to call the attention of Protestants to the 
use of their reason in matters of religion, in order 
to vindicate the principles of the reformation ; and 
also farther to assert our liberty of dissenting from 
the established religion of this country. This has 
been done so often, that many persons may think 
it a worn out and useless topic. They may think 
that the reformation has been abundantly vindicat- 
ed, and that now we have nothing to do but to re- 
joice in that liberty in which the exertions of our 
ancestors, and the favour of divine providence, 
have made us free. Dissenters also may think the 
principles of their dissent from the establishment 
of their country sufficiently vindicated, and that 
now, we have nothing to do, but joyfully to acquis 
esce in our greater liberty ; only being ready to 
oppose all attempts that may be made to encroach 
upon it. 

This, however, is the language of those who 
think they have acquired all useful religious know- 
ledge ; whereas it is probable that this will never 
be the situation of man, not even in a future world, 
and mu ch less in this. In nature we see no bou nds 
to our inquiries. One discovery always gives 
hints of many more, and brings us into a wider 
field of speculation. Now why should not this be, 

in 



OF FREE INQUIRY. 



in some measure, the case with respect to know, 
ledge of a moral and religious kind ? Is the com- 
pass of religious knowledge so small, as that any 
person, however imperfectly educated, may com* 
prehend the whole, and without much trouble ? 
This may be the notion of such as read or think 
but little on the subject. But of what value can 
such an opinion be ? 

If we look back into ecclesiastical history, 
(which is itself a study no less useful than it is im- 
mense, and despised by none but those who are ig- 
norant of it) we shall see that every age, and almost 
every year, has had its peculiar subjects of inquiry. 
As one controversy has been determined, or suffi- 
ciently agitated, others have always arisen ; and I 
will venture to say there never was a time in which 
there were more, or more interesting objects of 
discussion before us, than there are at present. 
And it is in vain to flatter ourselves with the pros- 
pect of seeing an end to our labours, and of having 
nothing to do but to sit down in the pleasing con- 
templation, of all religious truth, and reviewing the 
intricate mazes through whicli we have happily 
traced the progress of every error. 

If, indeed, we confine ourselves to things that 
are necessary to salvation, we may stop whenever we 

please, 



366 THE IMPORTANCE 

please, and may even save ourselves the trouble of 
any inquiry, or investigation at all. Because no- 
thing is absolutely necessary to acceptance with 
God, and future happiness in some degree, besides 
the conscientious practice of the moral duties of 
life. What doth the Lord thy God require of thee, 
but to do justice, to love mercy , and to walk humbly 
vjith thy God? But, certainly, we may mislead our- 
selves if we restrict our enquiries by this rule, as, 
according to it, Christianity itself may be said to be 
unnecessary. For do any of us think that a virtu - 
ous heathen will not be saved? Paul says, that 
they who are without the law of Moses shall be 
judged 'without that law. They have the law of 
nature, and of conscience, and will be judged by 
that. But, notwithstanding this, he thought it a 
-great privilege to be a Jew, and a greater still, as it 
rertainlv is, to be a christian ; and there were ques- 
tions relating to Christianity to which he thought' 
ft nroper to give his own closest attention, and to 
invite the attention of others. The manner in 
which he addresses the Galatians, the Corinthians, 
and the christians of other churches, on the subject 
false doctrine, is equal in point of energy with, 
the fen gu age of our Saviour, he that has ears to 
hear Izf-IAm hear; and that of the apostle John, in 

whose 



OF FREE INQUIRY. 367 

Tv hose' time error had spread wider, and taken deep- 
er root, is still stronger. Do not these great exam- 
pies then, justify the most vigilant attention that 
we can now give to the purity of christian doc- 
trine? 

As new errors and mistakes are continually aris- 
ing, it is of importance that. these be corrected, even 
to keep the ground that we have already got ; and 
it may well be presumed that the great corruption 
in doctrine, discipline, and worship, which began 
in the very age of the apostles, and which kept ad- 
vancing for the space of near fourteen hundred 
years afterwards, may furnish matter for the labo- 
ricus and spirited enquiries or a later period ffiSh 
curs. We have seen, indeed, the daivn of a refor- 
mation, but much remains to the light of perfect 
day ; and there is nothing that we can' now allege 
as a plea for discontinuing our researches, that 
might not have been said with equal plausibility 
at the time, by Wickliff, by Luther, or by later re- 
formers, who stopped far short of the progress 
which you who now hear me have made. We 
think that they all left the reformation very imper- 
fect, and why may not our posterity think the same 
concerning us ? What peculiar right have w T e to 

sar 



368 



THE IMPORTANCE 



say to the spirit of reformation, So far shall thong* 
and no farther. 

Luther and Calvin reformed many abuses, es- 
pecially in the discipline of the church, and also 
some gross corruptions in doctrine ; but they left 
other things, of far greater moment, just as they 
found them. They disclaimed the worship of 
saints and angels, but they retained the worship of 
Jesus Christ, which led the way to it, which bad 
the same origin i and which is an equal infringe- 
ment of the honour due to the supreme God, who 
foas declared that he will not give his glory to ano- 
ther, Nay, the authority of the names of those re- 
formers, who did not see this and other great er- 
rors, now serves to strengthen and confirm them. 
For those doctrines of original sin, predestination > 
atonement, and die divinity of Christ, which de- 
serve to be numbered among the grossest of aller- 
rors, are even often distinguished by the appellati- 
on of the doctrines of the reformatio^ merely be- 
cause they were not reformed by those who have 
3*6t the name of the reformers ; as if no others 
could have a right to it but themselves ; whereas, 
-excepting the doctrine of atonement (which in its 
full extent was an error that originated with the re- 
formers themselves, who were led into it by an im- 
moderate 



FREE INQJJIRY. 36£ 

"ttioderafte opposition to the popish doctrine of me- 
rit) they are, in fcct, the doctrines of the church of 
Rome, which Luther and Calvin left just as they 
found. 

It was great merit in them to go so far as they 
did, and it is not they, but vie who are to blame, if 
their authority induce us to go no farther. We 
should rather imitate them in the boldness and 
spirit with which they called in question, and recti- 
fied, so many long established errors ; and, avail- 
ing ourselves of their labours, make farther pro- 
gress than they were able to do. Little reason 
have we to allege their name, authority, and exam- 
ple, when they did a great deal, and we do nothing 
at all. In this, we are not imitating t/iem, bu t thoser 
who opposed and counteracted them, willing to 
keep things as they were, among whom were ma- 
ny excellent characters, whose apprehensions at 
that day were the very same with those of many 
very good and quiet persons at present, viz. the fear 
or moving foundations, and overturning Christianity 
itself. Their fears, we are now all sensible, were 
groundless, and why may not those of the present 
age be so too ? 

Dissenters, who have no creeds dictated to them 
by any civil governors, have, nevertheless, at this 

day 



S70 



THE IMPORTANCE 



day no less need of such admonitions as these than 
members of established churches, because they 
may have acquired as blind an attachment to the 
systems in which they were educated as the mem- 
bers of any establishment whatever, and may be as 
averse to any farther improvement. Indeed, a si- 
milar temper is necessarily produced in similar 
circumstances, while human nature is the same in. 
us all , and therefore a person educated a dissenter 
may be as much a bigot as any person educated a 
churchman, or a baptist ; and if he now be what 
he was brought up to, the probability certainly is, 
that had he been educated dinerently, his prejudi- 
ces would have been no less strong, though in- 
tireiy different ; so that the rigid dissenter would 
have been as rigid a baptist or a churchman. 

No person whose opinions are not the result of 
his own serious inquiry can have a right to say that 
he is a dissenter, or any thing else, on principle ; 
and no man can be absolutely sure of this, whose 
present opinions are the same w ith those that he 
was taught y though he may think, and be right in 
thinking, that he sees sufficient reason for them, 
and retains them on conviction. . This, however, 
is all that can be expected from any man. For it 
would be most absurd for a man to adopt new opi- 
nions, 



OF FREE INQUIRY. 37L 

riiofis, cnnions entertained by no person besides 
seifi merely for the sake of proving that he has 
actually thought for himself. But still, thinking 
as others have thought, and for reasons which o- 
thers have given, is no proof of a man having thought 
for himself, and therefore will not authorize his 
censuring of others. Such a person may have the 
true spirit of inquiry, he may have exerted it, and 
have found the truth ; but he is incapable of giv- 
ing that satisfactory evidence of it which can be gi- 
ven by one, whose present sentiments are different 
from those in which he was educated, and which 
he could not have learned but from his own re- 
searches. 

How few then among you who were educat- 
ed dissenters can have a right to say that vou would 
have been dissenters if you had not been so educat- 
ed ? It is more than I would presume to say con- 
cerning myself. If those persons who now dislike 
the spirit of innovation were to go back in history, 
and place themselves in every age cf reformation ; 
still censuring that spirit which always gave of- 
fence in its day (being always the rebellion of a 
few against the authority of the many) they coulcj 
not stop till they came to the heathenism of our 

barbarous 



372 THE IMPORTANCE, 

barbarous ancestors. For it was the bold spirit of 
inquiry that made them christians. 

Let all those who acquiesce in any system in 
which they were educated, or which they have 
learned from others, consider that, in censuring 
more modern innovators, they are censuring the 
spirit and example of the very persons whose opi- 
nions they have adopted, and of whose name they 
make their boast ; and that if it had not been for 
that very spirit which they now censure, only ex- 
erted a century or two ago, their own opinions 
Would have been very different from what they now 
are. They ought, therefore, to respect the princu 
pie, even though it should lead some into error. 
If the spirit of inquiry that carries some to Socini- 
aiiism be wrong, that which carries others to Ari- 
anism is no less so ; and if Araiinius is to be con- ' 
demned for abandoning the doctrine of Calvin^ 
Calvin himself must be condemned for abandoning 
the doctrines of popery . It is the spirit of inquiry 
which, if error be established, necessarily leads to 
jnnovatiwi) that every man who ranks himself with 
any class of christians now existing, must com- 
mend in some person or other. And if it was real- 
ly commendable in the person whose opinions he 
adapts, it cannot be censurable in the person whose 

opinions 



O* FREE INQUIRY. 



373 



tjplnlons he does not chuse to adopt. The same 
spirit of inquiry is in itself equally commendable, 
or equally censurable in all, and whether it lead to 
truth, or to error. 

It will be said, Is it not possible for the spirit of 
inquiry and innovation to be carried too far ? Does 
liberty never degenerate into licentiousness ? Ad- 
mitting this, who is the proper judge in the case, 
when all are equally parties? The Papist will 
say that the Protestant has gone too far, the Calvin- 
ists will say that the Arminians are to blame, Ar- 
minians will condemn the Arians, and the Arians 
die Unitarians, and even some Unitarians may 
condemn those of their body, who differing from 
them in some respects, have not as yet got, but 
may hereafter get, some other name. 

In fact, there is no reason to be alarmed at all in 
the case. Truth will always have an infinite ad- 
vantage over error, if free scope be given to inqui- 
ry. It is very little advantage that any superiority 
of ability can give to the cause of error, and cannot 
be of long continuance ; not to say that the probabi- 
lity must always be, that a man of superior ability 
will discover the truth sooner than one of inferior 
talents; industry, and all other qualities being 
equal between them. 

A a But 



374 



JTHE IMPORTANCE 



But the consideration that will perhaps contri* 
bute most to allay the apprehensions of serious and 
well intentioned persons, with respect to all theo- 
logical controversies, is that nothing on which fu- 
ture happiness depends is concerned in any of 
them. Much more than has yet been called in 
question may be given up without abandoning 
Christianity ; and every thing that has yet been 
done towards stripping our religion of its foreign 
incumbrances has contributed to making many 
value it the more ; and consequently, by giving it 
a firmer hold cn men's understanding and belief, 
tends to give it a greater influence over their affec- 
tions and practice. 

There are, likewise, some other considerations,, 
by means of which those persons who are not them- 
selves much given to speculation, and who are apt 
to be alarmed by the suggestions of others, may 
relieve themselves from the fears they entertain on 
these occasions. One is, that no principle or tenet 
is really dangerous that does not affect men's be- 
lief in the righteous moral government of God, and 
a state of rewards and punishments hereafter , be. 
cause this is that religious principle which has the 
greatest influence on the conduct of men. Other 
principles, indeed, have an effect, in contributing 

to 



OF FREE INQUIRY-. 



375 



to make us regard our governor and judge, and 
the maxims of his administration, with more satis- 
faction, and therefore may make religious obedi- 
ence more pleasing, and they deserve our zeal and 
attachment on that account. Other principles 
again tend to make our religion approve itself to 
the reason of mankind, by removing from it what 
is manifestly absurd, or highly improbable and re- 
volting ; and therefore may recommend Christiani- 
ty to those who are at present prejudiced against it, 
and they deserve a large portion of our zeal on that 
account. But still the great thing, with respect to 
the professor of Christianity himself, is his firm be- 
lief in a righteous moral government, and a future 
state of retribution, because these are the things 
that chiefly influence mens' conduct. 

In reality, there cannot be any better rule of 
judging in this case than that of our Saviour, By 
their fruits shall ye know them. Consider then the 
tempers and conduct of those persons whose oqini- 
ons are said to be dangerous. Are they worse 
than other persons ? Have they less piety towards 
God, or less good will to men, or are they more in- 
dulgent to their appetites and passions ? If this 
cannot be said of them, but on the contrary, their 
conduct be as unexceptionable, and exemplary, as 
A a 2 that 



376 



THE IMPORTANCE. 



that of other christians, assure yourselves that there 
is no more real danger in their principles than in 
those ?of ^others. They cannot be bad principles 
with which men lead „godly, righteous, and sober 
lives. 

I do hot, however, desire you to be determined 
by the observation of a single person, or of a few 
persons; because there may be causes of their 
good conduct independent of their principles ; as 
there may be causes of bad conduct in those who 
hold^ood principles. But observe the general 
character of the sect, or denomination, whose pria~ 
ciptes are censured ; and if it be riot worse than 
that of others, assure yourselves that, whatever 
may be the vices or virtues of individuals, the ge- 
neral principles of the sect are not more unfavour- 
able to virtue than those of other christians * and 
therefore, that there is nothing in theri that ought 
to give you any alarm. 

But if, independent of practical consequences, 
you consider speculative principles only, and all 
your fears be for Christianity, it should be consi- 
dered that every man is a christian who believes 
the divine mission cf Christ, and consequently the 
truth of his religion. And, for the reason given 
beibre, the only essential article of his religion is 

the 



or ruEE inquiry. 377 

the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead. Who 
Christ himself is, personally considered, is not, of 
itself, of any consequence, but only whether he be 
sufficiently authorized by the God of truth to teach 
what he did teach in his name. If such doctrines 
be taught concerning Christ, personally considered, 
as men of sense will not readily believe, if it be in- 
sisted on that he is almighty God, the maker of the 
world, or any thing else that will seem to be eitfier 
impossible or highly improbable (by which many 
persons may be indisposed to receive Christianity,, 
and especially the great bodies of Jews and Maho- 
metans, v ho keep strictly to that most important 
doctrine of the unity of God) every rational chris- 
tian ought on that account, as *eil as others, to 
exert himself to refute such notions, and to prevent 
the spread of them. But still we ought to bear in 
mind, that any man is intitled to the appellation of 
a christian who believes that Christ (whether he 
was himself God, or man, or something between 
God or man) had a commission from God, thai he 
died and rose again ; and who, in consequence of 
it, expects a general resurrection and a life of retri- 
bution to come. 

But should free inquiry lead to the destruction 
of Christianity kseif, it ought not on that account to 
A a 3 be 



378; THE IMPORTANCE 

be discontinued. For we can only wish for the- 
prevalence- of Christianity on the supposition of its 
being true ; and if it fall before the influence of 
free inquiry, it can only da so in consequence of 
its not being true. But every man who is him- 
self a serious believer in Christianity, must have 
the most perfect confidence in its truth. He can 
have no doubt of its being able to stand the test of 
the most rigorous examination, and consequently 
he can have no motive to be unwilling to submit 
it to that test. None can well be enemies to free 
inquiry but tho.e who, not believing Christianity, 
or at least strongly suspecting that it may not be 
true, yet wish to support it for some private and in- 
terested considerations ; like those who lived by 
the trade of making shrines for the goddess Diana-;, 
who were interested in the support of her worship 
at all events, whether they themselves believed in 
her divinity or not, because by that craft they got 
their wealth. But this is an argument that cannot 
much alfect any besides members of civil estab- 
lishments of religion. You> my brethren, have 
no interest whatever in the support of Christianity* 
if it be false ; and your ministers very little. We, 
therefore, as dissenters, shall be absolutely inexcu- 
sable if we be not friends to free inquiry in its ut- 
most; 



OF FREE ItfQJJntT- 379 

most extent, and if we do not give the most un~ 
bounded scope to the use of our reason in matters 
of religion. It is the great pri nciple on which our 
cause rests, and without which it can never be 
worth supporting at all. 

By all means, then, be so far consistent, as chris- 
tians, as protestants, and as dissenters as to give 
the greatest encouragement to free inquiry in mat- 
ters of religion. Do you , who have leisure and ca- 
pacity, study the subject of religion, the nature of 
its evidences, and every circumstance relating to 
it. No subjects of inquiry or speculation, within 
the reach of the human faculties, are so great and 
interesting as those which, in. the most distant 
manntr, relate to the revelation of the will of God 
to men, respecting our conduct here, and our ex- 
pectations hereafter. The ultimate object of the 
whole scheme gives a dignity to comparatively lit- 
tle things belonging to it; and no studies, are in 
their nature, capable of becoming more pleasing 
and satisfying to the mind than those of theology. 
Eor this I may venture to appeal to the experience 
of all those who, in consequence of having a taste 
for these studies, as well as others, and of having 
made real proficiency in both, are 'the only compe- 
tent judges in the case. Their being the chosen 
A a 4 studies: 



380 



THE IMPORTANCE 



studies of Newton and Locke, for the greater and 
more valuable part of their lives, clearly shews that 
they considered them as superior to those of ma- 
thematics and natural philosophy in the one ease, 
and of metaphysicks, and various other liberal 
pursuits, in the other. Compared with this testi- 
mony, so emphatically given, by the actual em- 
ployment of their time r how contemptible is the 
opinion of men whose studies have been confined 
to polite literature, natural science, or that of mea 
of the world, who* cannot pretend to any know- 
ledge of the su bject on which they pass their hasty 
censures. You who have fortune, but little lei- 
sure, or capacity, for such inquiries yourselves, at 
least encourage them in others* Give assistance 
to their labours, and you will have a better right to 
enjoy the fruits of them, though you may not be 
qualified, in any other respect, to contribute to 
their success. 

Do you, in general, who are private members of 
christian societies be, at least, so far the friends of 
free inquiry, as to throw no obstructions in the 
way of it. Allow your ministers the liberty that 
you take yourselves, and take no umbrage if, in 
consequence of giving more attention to matters of 
theology than you have leisure, for, they should 

entertain 



07 TREE INQUIRY* 38X 

entertain opinions different From yours, provided 
that yoxv agreement on the \\ roh fre such, as that 
their servi :es are useful and edifying to you. Af-. 
terc/iLj .nous ar.d perhaps hazardous course of 
inquiry, of die ditfi :u^ttes c: nich you can hardly 
be G'vaie, it is nq grea. ha dsfeiy upon you to give 
them at Iqasi a cLpassionatt; and attend ve hearing. 
They cannot yZ?r^ any opinions upon you. You 
will still have the power of judging for yourselves ; 
and without hearing you cannot have even the 
means of forming a right judgment. And where 
an agreement cannot be had (and few persons who 
really think for themselves will agree in all things) 
you may exercise that mutual candour, which is 
of more value than any agreement in speculation. 

If your ministers be men of sense, and have any 
knowledge of human nature, they will not trouble 
you, from such a place, as this, with speculations 
into which you cannot enter, or the discussion of 
questions that are not of some importance to our 
common Christianity. But you may easily sup- 
pose, that, giving more attention to speculative re- 
ligion than you have leisure to do, they may see 
the importance of certain articles in a stronger 
light than you will at first be aware of ; and that 
will justify them to themselves, and ought to jus- 
tify 



382 



THE IMPORTANCE 



tify them to you, if they propose those articles 
\rith such evidence as strikes their minds in their 
favour, and with a zeal which they may think they 
deserve. It is indeed their duty, in the sight of 
God, to inculcate upon you whatever they shall 
think to be of importance to you, as members of 
christian societies, whether you receive it well or 

m * 

There are many things which they may think to 
be highly interesting in speculation, and proper for 
your consideration in your closets, which they 
would not think of proposing promiscuously from 
the pulpit, not being of sufficient importance, and 
the minds of all not being sufficiently prepared for 
them. But there are some errors of a speculative 
nature, such as those respecting the unity of God, 
and the equity of his moral government, which have- 
taken deep root among common christians, and 
which are perpetually inculcated from other pul- 
pits, with respect to which it becomes us to oppose 
zeal to zeal ; and every man who has ears to hear 
should be called upon to hear and understand ; be- 
cause every man who has ears to hear, and the 
most common understanding may be made to see 
the absurdity and the mischievous consequences 
€>f such doctrines. The minds, therefore, of the. 

commoner 



OF FREE INQUIRY. 383 

commonest people onght to be enlightened, and 
their zeal excited, with respect to them. Let it 
appear that we, as well as others, despise what we 
think to be despisable, and abhor what we think to 
be shocking. 

Let those, on the other hand, who are bold in 
speculation, bear with those who are not so, especi- 
ally those who are in years, and who have not been 
much in the habit of diligent inquiry. God does 
not give the same disposition to every man ; nor 
indeed does the purpose of his providence admit of 
it. Long prejudices are also always, or at least 
generally, to be treated with tenderness. Besides, 
as it is happy for the cause of truth that some 
should be forward in speculation, it is no less hap- 
py that others should be backward to receive new 
opinions ; as, in consequence of this, every thing 
is more thoroughly canvassed ; and it is only after 
a due course of discussion, in which every objecti- 
on shall be brought forth, that there can be 
any probability that the reception of any truth 
will be lasting. A truth that has never been 
opposed cannot acquire that firm and unwa- 
vering assent, which is given to that which has 
Stood the test of a rigorous examination, 

As 



384 



THE IMPORTANCE 



As we call upon every man that has $ars to hear 9 . 
that is, to judge, we must be prepared patiently to 
bear with the result of that judgment, whatever it 
is. If we invite examination and discussion, we 
should take the consequences of it, without com- 
plaining. If the cause for which we contend be a 
good one, it will stand its ground; and if other- 
wise, we ourselves ought to rejoice in the falk 
of it. 

To conclude, whether, in searching after truth, 
or in judging of it, let us give one another all the 
aid and assistance that we can - r remembering that^ 
we are all frail and fallible creatures, liable to mis- 
takes, and to faults more dangerous than any mis- 
takes. Let it, therefore, be our greatest care to 
provoke unto love and to good works, to exhort one 
another daily .while it is called to day, lest any of uSr 
he hardened throngh the deceitfidmss of sin. 

With respect to opinions, the time is coming that 
will try every man*s work what it is, whether we 
are now building upon the foundation of the apos- 
tles and prophets with suitable and durable mate- 
rials, or such as will not bear the fire. And, with 
respect both 10 speculation and practice, let it be 
our great object so to acquit ourselves here below, 
in the absence of our Lord, that when he shall re- 
turn,,. 



OF FREE INQJJIRY. 385 

-turn, and take an account of his servants, we may 
be found of him without spot and blameless, and 
3iat.be ashamed before him at his coming. 



FINIS, 



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